A study published in the BJOG has found that women who exercise during pregnancy are less likely to have gestational diabetes and that exercise helps to reduce weight gain during pregnancy.
The Spanish research team carried out a systematic review to assess the impact of enrolling healthy pregnant women, who were sedentary or had low levels of physical activity, into exercise programmes.
The review analysed 13 randomised controlled trials, which involved 2873 women, and found that overall, physical exercise programmes during pregnancy decreased the risk of gestational diabetes (relative risk [RR]=0.69; P=0.009), particularly when the exercise programme was performed throughout the whole pregnancy (RR=0.64; P=0.038).
Exercise also reduced maternal weight gain, with those who had exercised being approximately a kilogram lighter than those who did not.
The authors of the study concluded that: “the moderate levels of exercise used in these studies had significantly positive effects on health and were found to be safe for both mother and baby.”
The full paper can be found here: http://bit.ly/1GxWzbQ.
