Effects of Managed Exercises in Pregnancy on Fetal Growth Criteria in Primiparous Women: A Randomized Clinical Controlled Trial

Recently, mothers’ physical activity during pregnancy has been the subject of many studies and no human studies have reported negative effects of prenatal exercise on fetus. This study aimed to determine the effect of managed exercise during pregnancy on fetal growth. This randomized controlled clinical trial enrolled 80 pregnant women in Damghan meeting the inclusion criteria. Samples were randomly selected using randomization website and divided into control and intervention groups. The intervention consisted of a structured individual and group aerobic exercises including individual walking, aerobic exercise, sitting Pilates exercise, and moderate to intense gestational aerobic exercise three times a week from gestational age of 18-20 weeks to 37-39 weeks. There were approximately 60 training sessions. The control group received standard care and had routine activities. The independent t-test revealed an insignificant difference between the control and intervention groups in infant weight (t = 0.957, p = 0.342), head circumference (t = 0.921, p = 0.342), and height (t = 0.739, p = 0.492) and gestational age t=1.218, p=0.277. A moderate intensity managed exercise during pregnancy does not pose a risk to maternal and fetal well-being and it does not endanger the health and growth of the fetus.