Abstract
Physical activity (PA) during pregnancy is associated with maternal benefits. Therefore, innovative strategies that promote PA are needed. This study investigated the acceptability and feasibility of a sedentary behavior (SB) reduction program during pregnancy. The study employed a semi-experimental research design using historical control subjects. The intervention group program consisted of individual face-to-face guidance, automatic alerts during SB from wearable devices, and self-monitoring of SB patterns, from 20 gestation weeks to delivery. PA and SB, assessed using a wearable device, were compared with those of the control group at 24–27 (T1) and 32–35 (T2) weeks of gestation. In 56 women, the mean wearing time was 90.2 days in the intervention phase. The response rate to automatic SB alerts was 55.5% at T1 and 63.0% at T2. Self-monitoring more than twice or thrice a week was 77.8% at T1 and 59.3% at T2. There was no significant difference in the cumulative SB time at T2 between the two groups (F = 2.31, p = 0.132). This program appears to be acceptable and feasible for pregnant women; however, SB reduction effect of the intervention remains unclear. Improvements to increase the response rate to automatic SB alerts and the frequency of self-monitoring are needed.
Highlights
Maintaining regular physical activity (PA) during pregnancy is associated with physical and psychological benefits, including appropriate weight gain, and reduced risk of gestational diabetes and postpartum depression [1,2]
Data from a previous study describing the changes in PA and sedentary behavior (SB) among pregnant women [22] were used
PA and SB were compared at 24–27 (T1) and 32–35 (T2) weeks of gestation, respectively, in the control and intervention groups. All subjects gave their informed consent for inclusion before they participated in the study
Summary
Maintaining regular physical activity (PA) during pregnancy is associated with physical and psychological benefits, including appropriate weight gain, and reduced risk of gestational diabetes and postpartum depression [1,2]. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that low-risk pregnant women engage in 30 min of moderate PA at least 5 days per week [3,4], most women are unable to meet this recommendation [5,6,7]. Most interventions designed to improve PA among pregnant women have focused on increasing moderate PA with exercise programs. These programs (a 1–2 times per week group exercise with moderate PA) have been shown to have high dropout rates and lower adherence to protocols [8,9,10,11,12].
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