Abstract
BackgroundNon-Hispanic black (NHB) pregnant women disproportionately experience adverse birth outcomes compared to Non-Hispanic white (NHW) pregnant women. The positive effects of prenatal exercise on maternal and neonatal health may mitigate these disparities. This study evaluated the influence of prenatal exercise on racial/ethnic disparities in gestational age (GA), birthweight (BW), and risks of preterm birth (PTB), cesarean section (CS), and low-birthweight (LBW) neonates.MethodsThis study performed a secondary data analysis using data from a 24-week, two-arm exercise intervention trial (ENHANCED by Mom). Women with singleton pregnancies (< 16 weeks), aged 18–40 years, BMI between 18.5–34.99 kg/m2, and no preexisting health conditions were eligible. The aerobic exercisers (EX) participated in 150 min of moderate-intensity weekly exercise while non-exercising controls (CON) attended low-intensity stretching/breathing sessions. Data on GA, PTB (< 37 weeks), BW, LBW (< 2.5 kg), and delivery mode were collected. Poisson, median and linear regressions were performed.ResultsParticipants with complete data (n = 125) were eligible for analyses (EX: n = 58, CON: n = 67). NHB pregnant women delivered lighter neonates (β = − 0.43 kg, 95% CI: − 0.68, − 0.18, p = 0.001). After adjusting for prenatal exercise, racial/ethnic disparities in BW were reduced (β = − 0.39 kg, 95% CI: − 0.65, − 0.13, p = 0.004). Prenatal exercise reduced borderline significant racial/ethnic disparities in PTB (p = 0.053) and GA (p = 0.07) with no effects found for CS and LBW.ConclusionsThe findings of this study demonstrate that prenatal exercise may attenuate the racial/ethnic disparities observed in neonatal BW, and possibly GA and PTB. Larger, diverse samples and inclusion of maternal biomarkers (e.g., cytokines) are encouraged to further evaluate these relationships.
Highlights
Despite recent healthcare reform in the US to minimize racial/ethnic disparities among pregnant women, the prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes remains higher among select minority groups, NonHispanic black (NHB) pregnant women [1]
Consistent evidence shows that the well-being of neonates at birth is a strong indicator of future health trajectory, with poorer well-being at birth predisposing neonates to future health complications including obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, respiratory infections, cognitive delays, etc. [3, 4]
After controlling for maternal pre-pregnancy BMI, maternal race was significantly associated with neonatal birthweight, where Non-Hispanic black (NHB) pregnant women delivered neonates weighing nearly 0.5 kg less (β = − 0.43, 95%CI: − 0.68, − 0.18, p = 0.001) than neonates born to Non-Hispanic white (NHW) pregnant women
Summary
Despite recent healthcare reform in the US to minimize racial/ethnic disparities among pregnant women, the prevalence of adverse pregnancy outcomes remains higher among select minority groups, NonHispanic black (NHB) pregnant women [1]. Greater proportions of NHB pregnant women deliver via cesarean section (36.1% vs 30.8%) and deliver more very-low- (2.9% vs 1.0%) & lowbirthweight (14.1% vs 6.9%) neonates compared NHW pregnant women [2]. These adverse delivery and birth outcomes may negatively affect the health of the neonate at birth. Non-Hispanic black (NHB) pregnant women disproportionately experience adverse birth outcomes compared to Non-Hispanic white (NHW) pregnant women. This study evaluated the influence of prenatal exercise on racial/ ethnic disparities in gestational age (GA), birthweight (BW), and risks of preterm birth (PTB), cesarean section (CS), and low-birthweight (LBW) neonates
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