Assessing Health Professionals Guidance Regarding Physical Activity In Pregnant Women

While most pregnancies are uneventful, an estimated 15% of pregnant women globally still develop complications that seriously affect maternal and fetal health. Over the past decades, these gestational complications have risen in association with advanced maternal age and/or obesity. Although physical activity (PA) during pregnancy has been shown to have significant health benefits for the mother and her fetus, including reduced risk of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders, very few women exercise as recommended by the national guidelines. Moreover, it has been reported that medical staff rarely discuss PA with their patients during prenatal visits. PURPOSE: Given the positive impact that health professionals can have on lifestyle changes, the first objective of this project is to document the information they give to pregnant women regarding the practice of PA during their pregnancy. The second objective is to evaluate the PA level of pregnant women during their pregnancy. METHODS: A questionnaire was administered using an electronic tablet to pregnant women at their first prenatal visit at the Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM). This questionnaire is adapted from the Pregnancy Physical Activity Questionnaire (PPAQ), a semi-quantitative questionnaire that measures PA type, intensity, frequency and duration during pregnancy, to which questions regarding the prenatal visits and socio-demographic questions have been added (PPAQ+). RESULTS: Thus far, more than 100 women followed at the CHUM have been recruited. Our preliminary results suggest that around 60% of women do not discuss PA with their health professionals. Of the women who did, close to 35% were not explained the benefits of being active, and almost 75% did not receive any specific and/or personal recommendations about PA practice. Regarding the PA level of our participants, a mean energy expenditure of around 260 MET.h/week was calculated. CONCLUSION: PA is not systematically discussed during the first prenatal visit and, when health professionals touch on the subject, they often do not give any recommendations. It is imperative to improve clinical practice regarding PA recommendations as this could lead to better pregnancy outcomes.