Abstract
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of our study was to test the hypothesis that regular recreational exercise increases the rate of growth in placental volume in the midtrimester of human pregnancy.STUDY DESIGN: Serial measurements of placental volume were obtained between the fourteenth and twenty-sixth gestational week in 18 subjects who exercised regularly throughout the midtrimester and in 16 matched controls with an ultrasonographic system equipped with a fixed-base, articulated-arm, 3.5 MHz B-mode transducer.RESULTS: Placental volumes were significantly greater in the women who maintained a regular exercise regimen throughout the midtrimester. At 16 weeks (mean ± SD) volumes were 141 ± 34 cm3 and 106 ± 18 cm3 in the two groups. This difference increased at 20 weeks (265 ± 67 cm3 vs 186 ± 46 cm3) and again at 24 (410 ± 87 cm3 vs 270 ± 58 cm3) weeks' gestation because of a significant between-group difference in the rate of growth in placental volume over this time interval (34 ± 8 cm3/wk vs 21 ± cm3/wk).CONCLUSION: We conclude that the hypothesis is correct and speculate that the change in growth rate represents an adaptive response to the intermittent stimulus of a reduction in regional blood flow. (AM J OBSTET GYNECOL 1992;167:1518-21.)
Published Version
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