Effects of Regular Exercise During Pregnancy

October 1, 2020 updated by: Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Training During Pregnancy - Effects of Regular Exercise During Pregnancy in Prevention of Pregnancy-related Diseases and Complications During Labour. A Randomised Clinical Trial

There is a great lack of results from randomized clinical trials with high methodological quality, assessing the effects of exercise during pregnancy. The main aims of this trial is to study the effects of exercise during pregnancy in the prevention and treatment of disease and complications which may arise during pregnancy:

  • Does regular exercise during pregnancy aid in preventing gestational diabetes?
  • Does regular exercise during pregnancy prevent low back and/or pelvic girdle pain?
  • Does regular exercise during pregnancy prevent urine and/or fecal incontinence?
  • Does regular exercise during pregnancy have an effect on labour and delivery?
  • Does regular exercise during pregnancy prevent maternal excessive weight gain and fetal macrosomatia?

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Pregnancy is regarded as a period of high risk when it comes to development of e.g. excessive weight gain, gestational diabetes and musculoskeletal problems such as low back pain and pelvic girdle pain, and urinary and fecal incontinence. While pregnancy and labor imply these and other risks, exercise is regarded as advantageous during pregnancy. Today's knowledge about the importance of exercise during pregnancy is mainly based on observational data from epidemiological studies, and the scientific strength of the clinical recommendations given is open to question. There is a great lack of results from randomized clinical trials with high methodological quality, assessing the effects of exercise during pregnancy. As a result of this, many important questions are still not answered. One of these is the effect exercise during pregnancy has in the prevention and treatment of disease and complications which may arise during pregnancy. Another question is the consequences that exercise during pregnancy has for labor and delivery. This study is designed as a randomized clinical trial using validated measurement tools to find answers to the mentioned questions.

In both national and international literature the importance of physical activity is highlighted. WHO has recently presented a global strategy for nutrition, physical activity and health. In Norway physical activity and exercise have been strongly addressed, and is an issue of high priority also in pregnant and postpartum women (St.meld.nr.16). Nevertheless, few trials evaluating the effects of regular exercise have been published. There is a need for evidence based knowledge to be implemented in education of health professionals, and in the development of health promotion strategies aiming at the general population.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

855

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Norway
      • Trondheim, Norway, 7489
        • Department of Community Medicine and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Clinical Service, St Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnant 18 weeks
  • attend the routine ultrasound control at the three hospitals
  • healthy
  • age 18 years or more
  • singleton live foetus at the routine ultrasound scan
  • normal pregnancy.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • pregnancy complications
  • high risk for preterm labour
  • pain during pelvic floor muscle contractions
  • ongoing urinary tract infection
  • diseases that could interfere with participation (following recommendations from SEF 2000, ACOG 2003)
  • living too far from the hospitals to be able to attend weekly exercise groups

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: exercise
Regular exercise 45-60 minutes minimum three times per week
Behavioral: specific training program
a specific training program 12 weeks between pregnancy week 20 and 36. regular exercise 45-60 minutes minimum three times per week.
Other Names:
  • physiotherapy
  • regular training
  • specific exercises
Active Comparator: control
standard antenatal care
Other: standard
standard antenatal care

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Gestational diabetes
Time Frame: 20 and 36 weeks pregnancy and 3 months post partum
insulin resistance
20 and 36 weeks pregnancy and 3 months post partum
Gestational diabetes
Time Frame: 18 months postpartum
Insulin resistance
18 months postpartum

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
incontinence
Time Frame: 20 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, 3 months post partum
Fecal- and urinary incontinence (incontinence scores)
20 and 36 weeks of pregnancy, 3 months post partum
lumbopelvic pain
Time Frame: 20 and 36 weeks pregnancy and 3 months post partum
Lumbopelvic pain (Pain intensity 100mm Visual Analogue Scale)
20 and 36 weeks pregnancy and 3 months post partum
disability
Time Frame: 20 and 36 weeks pregnancy and 3 months post partum
Disability Rating Index (Salèn et al. 1994)
20 and 36 weeks pregnancy and 3 months post partum
incontinence
Time Frame: 18 months postpartum
Fecal- and urinary incontinence (incontinence scores)
18 months postpartum
lumbopelvic pain
Time Frame: 18 months postpartum
Lumbopelvic pain (Pain intensity 100mm Visual Analogue Scale)
18 months postpartum
disability
Time Frame: 18 months postpartum
Disability Rating Index (Salèn et al. 1994)
18 months postpartum
Gestational diabetes
Time Frame: 5 years
insulin resistance
5 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Collaborators

St. Olavs Hospital
Norwegian Fund for Postgraduate Training in Physiotherapy

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Siv Mørkved, PhD, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

May 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2011

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 21, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 21, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

May 22, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

October 5, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 1, 2020

Last Verified

October 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • REK4.2007.81

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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