The Acute Effect of Physical Exercise in Pregnancy

NCT06565182 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: EDGE002233
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 18
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this crossover clinical trial is to investigate the acute physiological effect of exercise on the uterine and fetal blood flow in pregnancy. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• What is the acute physiological effect of exercise on the uterine and fetal blood flow in pregnancy?
• What is the acute physiological effect of continuous aerobic exercise versus resistance exercise on the uterine and fetal blood flow in pregnancy?
• What is the effect of physical activity levels on the uterine and fetal blood flow in pregnancy? Researchers will compare the continuous aerobic exercise to the resistance exercise with a 3-6-week interval to examine the acute physiological effect on the uterine and fetal blood flow. Participants will:
• Fill in a physical activity level questionnaire at baseline.
• Complete either continuous aerobic exercise or resistance exercise and take blood flow measurements.
• Complete the remaining type of exercise after a 3-6-week interval and take blood flow measurements.

Conditions

Pregnancy Related

Keywords

blood flow; pregnancy; aerobic exercise; resistance exercise; doppler ultrasound; physical activity

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Blood flow using doppler ultrasound measurements

  Measurements of the pulsatility index of the left and right uterine artery, umbilical artery and middle cerebral artery were taken using Doppler ultrasound. The pulsatility indexes were determined by taking the average of three waveforms from the Doppler velocity measurements.

  The measurements were taken before and after each exercise bout. Participants rested for at least 15 minutes before their baseline measurement was evaluated. Reassessment was done within 15 minutes after the intervention.

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Physical activity levels

  Physical activity levels were assessed at baseline.

Study Arms (2)

Continuous aerobic exercise

EXPERIMENTAL

The continuous aerobic intervention was performed on a bicycle in a seated position at a moderate exercise intensity. Heart rate and RPE was implemented to ensure moderate intensity level. The participants were allowed to warm up for 5 minutes before starting to cycle at the predetermined HR ranges for 25 minutes. The total duration of exercise was 30 minutes.

Other: Exercise

Resistance exercise

EXPERIMENTAL

The acute resistance intervention consisted of four exercises performed using Technogym equipment at a moderate intensity. Every exercise consisted of 3 sets of 20 repetitions, with 1 minute rest in between sets, equaling 30 minutes of exercise in total. The four exercises were performed using the following Technogym devices: vertical traction, chest press, low row, leg press. Prior to the start of each exercise, a short maximal resistance test provided by the Technogym equipment was executed to determine moderate intensity.

Other: Exercise

Interventions

Exercise OTHER

The intervention consists of two different types of moderate intensity exercise: Continuous aerobic and resistance exercise.

Continuous aerobic exercise; Resistance exercise

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• pregnant, over the age of 18 years, singleton pregnancy, both primigravidas and multigravidas, uncomplicated pregnancy and absence of contra-indications for exercise as per Canadian guidelines (Mottola et al. 2018).

You may not qualify if:

• smoking, substance abuse, chronic diseases, fetal growth restriction, fetal abnormalities, hypertension, history of premature delivery, vaginal hemorrhage, placenta previa, contractions before/during intervention, diabetes mellitus, preeclampsia and previous pregnancy complications.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University Hospital, Antwerp: lead

Study Sites (1)

Antwerp University Hospital

Edegem, Antwerp, 2650, Belgium

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Motor Activity

Interventions

Exercise

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Motor Activity; Movement; Musculoskeletal Physiological Phenomena; Musculoskeletal and Neural Physiological Phenomena

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: BASIC SCIENCE
• Intervention Model: CROSSOVER
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 19, 2024
• First Posted: August 21, 2024
• Study Start: November 15, 2021
• Primary Completion: May 6, 2022
• Study Completion: May 26, 2022
• Last Updated: August 21, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-08

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

BE (1)