Pregnancy Health: Exercise Programs to Prevent Gestational Hypertension

CDC

An Evidence-Based Practice

Description

Programs engage women in regular exercise from before their 16th week of pregnancy through birth.

Exercise programs must include one or both of the following:
-Supervised exercise classes that meet at least three times each week and include 30-60 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise
-Regular moderate-intensity walking sessions during which women (alone or in a group) walk 90-150 minutes per week or 11,000 steps per day, as monitored by a pedometer

Interventions may also include the following:
-Supervised resistance training
-Additional education or encouragement on physical activity, nutrition, and weight management

Interventions may be delivered in health system facilities, or in community-based or home settings.

Impact

The Community Preventive Services Task Force (CPSTF) recommends exercise programs for pregnant women to reduce the development of gestational hypertension.

Results / Accomplishments

The systematic review and meta-analysis included 17 randomized controlled trials.
-Compared to interventions without an exercise program or to usual care, exercise programs reduced the development of high blood pressure during pregnancy by 46% (17 studies)

Additional analyses of a subset of 16 studies showed the following:
-The cesarean delivery rate for program participants was 16% lower than the rate for comparison groups (14 studies).
-The rate of preeclampsia was 21% lower among program participants when compared with control groups, though the difference was not statistically significant (7 studies).

About this Promising Practice

Primary Contact
The Community Guide
1600 Clifton Rd, NE
MS V25-5
Atlanta, GA 30329
(404) 498-1827
communityguide@cdc.gov
https://www.thecommunityguide.org/
Topics
Health / Maternal, Fetal & Infant Health
For more details
https://www.thecommunityguide.org/findings/pregnan...

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An Evidence-Based Practice meets the following HCI criteria:

  1. The program description includes at a minimum: the sponsoring organization, program goals, program implementation steps, and outcomes that have demonstrated program success in achieving the program goal in one or more localities.
  2. The results from an evaluation of the program include quantitative measures showing improvement in the outcome(s) of interest after the implementation of the program (i.e. increase in smoking cessation, not just the delivery of a smoking cessation program). The outcome measure(s) is/are compared at relevant time periods before and after the intervention or program implementation. Alternatively, the evaluation study compares the outcome(s) between an intervention group and an appropriate control group.
  3. The study is of peer-review quality and presents numbers in a scientific manner; measurements of precision and reliability are included (e.g. confidence intervals, standard errors), results from statistical tests show a significant difference or change in the outcome measure(s), and relevant point estimates and p-values are presented. Note: if the results from an evaluation of a program are presented in a scientific manner and the outcome measure is improved compared to the baseline measurement or the control group but the difference is not statistically significant, the practice is classified as effective and not evidence-based.