The effects of physical activity in pregnant depressed women on post-term developmental indexes

Depression prevalence during pregnancy and its prevention and treatment has been concerned by researchers. The aim of study was to investigate the effects of physical activities in this period on post-term developmental indexes.
The research method was quasi-experimental one. 3 groups with pretest and posttest design with control group [depressed (n=27), depressed with physical activities (n=32) and the control (n=30) groups] were studied. Beck depression questionnaire was used to measure the rate of depression. Aerobic training program was 3 sessions a week, each session 30 min by 40-50% of maximal reserve heart rate. Infants’ height, weight and head circumference measurements were obtained after birth. One way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test were used for statistical analysis.
The results indicated that height, weight and head circumferences as three infants’ growth indexes were lower in depressed group compared to the other groups (p Conclusively, regular physical activity plays a key role in depression improvement of pregnant women and it leads to the improvement in infants’ growth indexes.