Can Exercise Lead Pregnant Women To Give Birth Prematurely?

According to the myth, exercise could dangerously lead to delivering the baby before it was even meant to come out. The traditional notion is that with exercise, a chemical is being released into the body while the mother, which will stimulate contractions. If that happens, it is feared that the baby will come out prematurely -- with some not making it. However, researchers now debunk this. 

A new study was published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology that revealed otherwise. Instead of being dangerous, exercise can even be good for both the mom and baby! 

The new study published was about exercise being safe and beneficial for the pregnant women and their babies. According to Senior author Vincenzo Berghella, professor at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, PA, and director of its Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, people think that exercise releases norepinephrine in the body, which is a chemical that can stimulate contractions of the uterus, and thus lead to preterm birth but numerous studies including this new meta-analysis, have since shown that exercise does not harm the baby, and can have benefits for the mom and baby.

Berghella and his colleagues gathered nine randomized controlled studies and analyzed them. The team gathered 2,059 women and assigned half to an aerobic group and another half to a control group. The aerobic group did 35-90 minutes, 3- 4 times a week for 10 weeks while the controlled did nothing.

The results of this experiment was astonishing as there was no significant difference between the aerobic exercise group and controlled group. The scientists observed that women who exercise had higher rates of normal delivery that the controlled group. The aerobic group has 73% of normal birth delivery and 17.9 had C-section while the controlled group had 67% normal delivery and 22% C-section. The researchers also found out that women who did not exercise had higher rates of gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders. These prove that there are health benefits for pregnant women who exercise.