Effects of antenatal exercise in overweight and obese pregnant women on maternal and perinatal outcomes: a randomised controlled trial
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To assess whether antenatal exercise in overweight/obese women would improve maternal and perinatal outcomes. Design: Two‐arm parallel randomised controlled trial. Setting: Home‐based intervention in Auckland, New Zealand. Population and sample: Pregnant women with body mass index ≥25 kg/m 2 . Methods: Participants were randomised to a 16‐week moderate‐intensity stationary cycling programme from 20 weeks of gestation, or to a control group with no exercise intervention. Main outcome measures: Primary outcome was offspring birthweight. Perinatal and maternal outcomes were assessed, with the latter including weight gain, aerobic fitness, quality of life, pregnancy outcomes, and postnatal body composition. Exercise compliance was recorded with heart rate monitors. Results: Seventy‐five participants were randomised in the study (intervention 38, control 37). Offspring birthweight (adjusted mean difference 104 g; P = 0.35) and perinatal outcomes were similar between groups. Aerobic fitness improved in the intervention group compared with controls (48.0‐second improvement in test time to target heart rate; P = 0.019). There was no difference in weight gain, quality of life, pregnancy outcomes or postnatal maternal body composition between groups. However, compliance with exercise protocol was poor, with an average of 33% of exercise sessions completed. Sensitivity analyses showed that greater compliance was associated with improved fitness (increased test time ( P = 0.002), greater VO 2 peak ( P = 0.015), and lower resting heart rate ( P = 0.014)), reduced postnatal adiposity (reduced fat mass ( P = 0.007) and body mass index ( P = 0.035)) and better physical quality of life ( P = 0.034). Conclusions: Maternal non‐weight‐bearing moderate‐intensity exercise in pregnancy improved fitness but did not affect birthweight or clinical outcomes. Tweetable abstract: Moderate‐intensity exercise in overweight/obese pregnant women improved fitness but had no clinical effects.
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Some authors attribute the absence of a beneficial effect of exercise on obstetric outcomes to low compliance.
“However, some authors attribute the absence of a beneficial effect of exercise on obstetric outcomes to the low level of compliance achieved [25].”
From A systematic review and meta-analysis of exercise-based intervention to prevent gestational diabetes in women with overweight or obesity (2025) · cites this paper as [25]
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- Authors
- Seneviratne, S., Jiang, Y., Derraik, J., McCowan, L., Parry, G., Biggs, J., Craigie, S., Gusso, S., Peres, G., Rodrigues, R., Ekeroma, A., Cutfield, W., & Hofman, P.
- Affiliations
- Liggins Institute University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand
- University of Auckland (NZ)
- Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development Auckland New Zealand
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Faculty of Medical and Health Science University of Auckland Auckland New Zealand
- Venue
- BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-11-06
- Volume
- 123
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 588-597
- ISSN
- 0306-5456 (ISSN-L)
- 1470-0328
- 1471-0528
- OpenAlex
- W2133931870
- Cited by
- 134
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 24 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 10.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- BJOG An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ResearchSpace (University of Auckland) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Funders
- Gravida: National Centre for Growth and Development
- Maurice & Agnes Paykel Clinical Research Unit at the Liggins Institute (University of Auckland)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Gestational Diabetes Research and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Keywords
- exercise during pregnancy, overweight in pregnancy, maternal obesity, stationary cycling, birth weight, perinatal outcomes, exercise adherence, gestational weight gain, quality of life
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Exercise Therapy, Female, Humans, New Zealand, Obesity, Patient Compliance, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Outcome, Prenatal Care, Quality of Life, Weight Gain, Body Mass Index, Treatment Outcome, Pregnant People, Pregnant Women, Risk Reduction Behavior, Overweight
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