1. | (26) | 456 pregnant women | Moderate aerobic exercise performed three days per week (50–55 minutes per session) for 8–10 weeks to 38–39 weeks gestation. | Higher percentage of pregnant women gained excessive weight in the control group (p = 0.018) The prevalence of gestational diabetes was significantly higher in the control group (p = 0.033) | Exercise throughout pregnancy reduces the risk of excessive maternal weight gain and GDM. |
2. | (27) | 20 pregnant women with low back pain between 19–29 weeks of gestation | 1) lumbar stabilization exercise protocol; 2) stretching exercise protocol. | There was significant reduction (p = 0.03) in pain for both interventions, but no change in disability score. Both interventions showed significant improvement in postural stability the velocity sway parameter, and significantly increased activation (p > 0.05) of the external abdominal oblique muscle after intervention. | Lumbar stabilization and stretching are efficient for pain reduction, improving balance and increasing one trunk activity muscle. |
3. | (28) | 639 pregnant women between 16 and 20 weeks of gestation | 16-week supervised exercise program including aerobic and resistance training delivered in 60-minute sessions 3 times per week. | There was no significant difference for postpartum depression between the intervention group and the control group. There was no significant difference in rates of postpartum depression between the intervention group and the control group. | Moderate-intensity exercise during pregnancy did not lead to reductions in postpartum depression. |
4. | (4) | 436 pregnant women at < 20 weeks of gestation | 5 face-to-face and ≤ 4 telephone coaching sessions using the principles of motivational interviewing. | In the health education and PA group, women achieved substantially less gestational weight gain than did the controls by 35 to 37 weeks. No improvements were seen in fasting or post load glucose levels or insulin concentrations. The birthweights and large and small for gestational age rates were similar. | The combined intervention showed limitation of gestational weight gain. |
5. | (29) | One hundred and twenty-nine pregnant women from 20 to 37 week of pregnancy | The SWEP (study of water exercise during pregnancy) method. | The health-related quality of life score decreased significantly between weeks 12 and 35 of gestation, except for the mental health component. Among the control group, the score for the mental health component at week 35 was ≤ 42, indicating a positive screening risk of depression. | PA programmes in water, such as SWEP, enhance the health-related quality of life of pregnant women. |
6. | (13) | 594 pregnant women | The exercise-based intervention conducted three times/week for 16 weeks from 16–20 to 32–36 weeks' gestation. | There were no significant differences in the incidence of preterm birth and pre-eclampsia between groups. There were no differences between the two groups in mean gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes, birth weight, infant length, and head circumference. | The exercise program did not have impacts on maternal or infant health. |
7. | (30) | 645 pregnant women | An intervention consisting of six sessions. Three sessions were face-to-face, with two provided by the dietitian shortly after trial entry and again at 28 weeks’ gestation, and one provided by a research assistant at 36 weeks’ gestation. Women received three telephone calls from the research assistant at 20-, 24- and 32-weeks’ gestation. | There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of infants with birth weight above 4.0 kg between groups (p = 0.732). | There are improvements in maternal diet quality, but no significant differences between the treatment groups were observed for total gestational weight gain, or other pregnancy and birth outcomes. |
8. | (31) | 40 pregnant women between 20–24 weeks of gestation | An aerobic exercise program in the form of walking on treadmill, three times weekly until the end of 37 weeks of gestation in addition to diet control. | There was a highly statistically significance decrease in fasting blood glucose level, fasting insulin level in both groups. | Moderate intensity of aerobic exercises was effective in reducing fasting blood glucose level and fasting insulin level in pregnant women with risk for GDM. |
9. | (32) | 120 pregnant women | A supervised physical conditioning program consisting of three 60-min sessions per week for the whole duration of pregnancy (weeks 9–38). | No differences were found between the groups in maternal weight at 20-, 28-, 36- and 38-weeks’ gestation or in weight gain at 38 weeks. The proportion of women with weight loss ≥ 9 kg at 6 weeks postpartum was higher in the exercise compared with the control group (p = 0.02). The ductus arteriosus pulsatility index at 20 weeks (p < 0.05) and the ejection fraction at 36 weeks (p < 0.05) were higher in the exercise compared with the control group. | Exercise during pregnancy is not associated with a reduction in maternal weight gain but increases weight loss at 6 weeks postpartum. Physical exercise during pregnancy is associated with increased fetal ductus arteriosus pulsatility index at 20 weeks and ejection fraction at 36 weeks. |
10. | (33) | 172 pregnant women | 14-week supervised home-based stationary cycling program. | The recurrence rate of GDM was similar between groups (p = 0.95) and the severity of GDM at diagnosis was unaffected by the exercise program with similar glucose and insulin responses to the OGTT (p > 0.05). Maternal fitness was improved by the exercise program (p < 0.01) and psychological distress was reduced (p = 0.02). There were no differences in obstetric and neonatal outcomes between groups (p > 0.05). | Supervised home-based exercise did not prevent the recurrence of GDM. It showed benefits for maternal fitness and psychological well-being. |
11. | (34) | 33 pregnant women | Nerve and tendon-slip exercise. | There were no significant differences between the groups in terms of symptoms and clinical tests (p > 0.05). The symptom severity scale between the groups was significantly high in group 1 (p < 0.05). Patients receiving treatment showed a decrease in symptom severity and functional capacity, but only the former showed a significant decrease in group 2 (p > 0.05). | Nerve and tendon slip exercises for pregnant women with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms are simple and reliable methods for increasing functionality and to reduce the severity of the disease. |
12. | (35) | 134 pregnant women in second trimester | 12 weeks of wait list, education classes, or twice weekly low-to-moderate intensity resistance training. | The group by time interaction showed that scores were unchanged across time after resistance training but significantly decreased for the education (p = 0.001) and wait list (p < 0.001) groups, whereas post-test vitality scores for the pregnancy group were significantly higher than the wait list (p = 0.05) but not the education group (p = 0.27). | Adverse changes in symptoms of energy and fatigue during pregnancy were reported when performing low-to-moderate intensity resistance training. |
13. | (36) | 91 pregnant women | 3 weekly supervised exercise sessions (35 min of moderate intensity walking/running and 25 min of resistance training), until delivery. | There was no between-group difference in depression (p = 0.55). | There is no effect of supervised exercise during pregnancy on psychological well-being among women with high BMI. |
14. | (37) | 516 pregnant women | Unsupervised water exercise twice a week for a period of 12 weeks. | Low back pain intensity was significantly lower in the water exercise group (p = 0.04). No difference was found in the number of days spent on sick leave (p = 0.83), disability due to low back pain nor self-rated general health. More women in the water exercise group reported no low back pain at 32 weeks (p = 0.07). | Water exercise contributes to significant lower intensity of low back pain in healthy pregnant women. |
15. | (5) | 435 pregnant women | Healthy eating and PA promotion intervention, a healthy eating promotion intervention, or a PA promotion intervention. | Between-group total cost and effect differences were not significant, besides significantly less gestational weight gain. Cost-effectiveness acceptability curves indicated that the healthy eating and PA intervention was the preferred intervention strategy. | Healthy eating and PA promotion were preferred strategy for limiting gestational weight gain. |
16. | (38) | 1023 pregnant women | Diet-related intervention and PA (increasing walking and being more active in daily life). | The PA intervention significantly reduced the Processed (p < 0.0001) and Snacks (p < 0.0001) pattern scores. In the adjusted model, baseline scores for the African/Caribbean and Processed patterns were associated with increased risk of gestational diabetes. | An intensive dietary intervention improved dietary pattern scores. Absence of results specifically focused on PA. |
17. | (39) | 105 sedentary, nulliparous pregnant women | Exercise included a 60-minute general fitness class, with 40 minutes of endurance training/aerobic and 20 minutes of strength training and stretching/relaxation, performed at least twice per week for a minimum of 12 weeks. | Women randomized to exercise rated their health significantly better compared to women in the control group (p = 0.02) and reported less fatigue related to everyday activities (p = 0.04). Women with complete exercise adherence had significantly better scores on measurements of feelings related to sadness, hopelessness and anxiety (p < 0.01). The control group reported higher life enjoyment (p < 0.01). There were no significant group differences in body-image or pregnancy depression. | Regular group exercise during pregnancy contributed to improvements in variables related to maternal well-being and quality of life. Women with high exercise adherence had better results. |
18. | (40) | 724 pregnant women | 12-week standardized exercise program, including both aerobic and strength training (20–36 weeks′ gestation). | No between-group difference in serum 25(OH)D and related parameters was identified. There is a between-group difference in levels of 25(OH)D (p = 0.048), free 25(OH)D (p = 0.017) and bioavailable 25(OH)D (p = 0.036). | Exercise affect vitamin D status positively. No adverse events related to regular exercise were reported. |