What is the effect of regular group exercise on maternal psychological outcomes and common pregnancy complaints? An assessor blinded RCT

Objective: to examine the effects of supervised group exercise on maternal psychological outcomes and commonly reported pregnancy complaints. Design: an observer-blinded randomized controlled trial. Setting: Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway. Participants: 105 sedentary, nulliparous pregnant women, mean age 30.7(±4.0) years, pre-pregnancy BMI 23.8 (±4.3), were assigned to either exercise (n=52) or control group (n= 53) at mean gestation week 17.7 (±4.2). Intervention: the exercise intervention followed ACOG guidelines and included a 60 minutes general fitness class, with 40 minutes of endurance training/aerobic and 20 minutes of strength training and stretching/relaxation, performed at least twice per week for a minimum of 12 weeks. Measurements: outcome measures were assessed through standardized interviews pre- and post-intervention (gestation week 36.6, ±0.9), and included psychological variables related to quality of life, well-being, body image and pregnancy depression, as well as assessment of 13 commonly reported pregnancy complaints. Findings: post-intervention, using intention to treat (ITT) analysis, women randomized to exercise rated their health significantly better compared to women in the control group (p=0.02) and reported less fatigue related to everyday activities (p=0.04). Women with complete exercise adherence (≥24 sessions) had significantly better scores on measurements of feelings related to sadness, hopelessness and anxiety (p