American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology
ResearchObstetricsEffect of physical activity during pregnancy on mode of delivery
Section snippets
Materials and Methods
This review was conducted in accordance with the “preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and metaanalyses” statement.9, 10
Study selection
We screened the abstracts of the 376 identified articles and excluded 203 clearly irrelevant references and 92 observational studies (Figure 1).
The full text of the 81 potentially relevant articles were obtained and assessed with the use of the eligibility criteria. Twenty-six articles were excluded because they reported none of the outcomes, even after attempted contact with the authors; 33 articles reported interventions that did not correspond to the inclusion criteria. A total of 19 reports
Comment
Our metaanalysis shows that structured aerobic or resistance exercise programs during pregnancy decrease the risk of cesarean delivery by 15% and reduce maternal weight gain by 1 kg on average. This finding represents a further argument to promote physical activity and exercise programs for pregnant women.
Most of the included studies were of small sample size, and cesarean delivery was not the primary outcome. Therefore, the power of each individual study to demonstrate a reduction in the
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The authors report no conflict of interest.
Cite this article as: Domenjoz I, Kayser B, Boulvain M. Effect of physical activity during pregnancy on mode of delivery. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2014;211:401.e1-11.