IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i3p1822-d1040655.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Women’s Knowledge and Perceptions of the Effect of Exercise during Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author

Listed:
  • Vilma Dudonienė

    (Department of Health Promotion and Rehabilitation, Lithuanian Sports University, LT-44221 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Raija Kuisma

    (Department of Physiotherapy, Karelia University of Applied Sciences, FI-80200 Joensuu, Finland)

Abstract

Background: Many women may not be aware of the effect of exercise during pregnancy. The objective of this study was to explore the knowledge and perceptions of the effect of exercise and compare whether there was a difference between women who were pregnant at the time of the study, who were not pregnant but had given birth in the past, and those who had never been pregnant and had never given birth. Methods: A cohort of 291 women, aged 18–55 years, participated in this cross-sectional study. Ninety-one (31.3%) women were pregnant at the time of the study; 97 (33.3%) were not pregnant but had given birth in the past, and 103 (35.4%) were not pregnant and had never given birth. This was a survey by an on-line questionnaire. Results: Only 24.4 % of respondents were aware of the effect of exercise in pregnancy, 44% were not aware of the effect of exercise in pregnancy, and 52.6% did not know if exercise interventions could be prescribed during pregnancy. The perceived aims of exercise, reported by the women, were to keep the body fit (58%), to reduce low back and pelvic pain (55%), and to facilitate childbirth (51%). Conclusions: Women who were not pregnant but had given birth were significantly less aware of the effect of exercise than women who were pregnant at the time of the study or not pregnant and had never given birth. The internet was the most common source of information about exercise among all respondents. Almost all women in the study felt the need for more knowledge about the effect of exercise during pregnancy. Therefore, exercise specialists must inform and educate women about the benefits of exercise during pregnancy.

Suggested Citation

  • Vilma Dudonienė & Raija Kuisma, 2023. "Women’s Knowledge and Perceptions of the Effect of Exercise during Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(3), pages 1-9, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1822-:d:1040655
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1822/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/1822/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carmen W. H. Chan & Elce Au Yeung & Bernard M. H. Law, 2019. "Effectiveness of Physical Activity Interventions on Pregnancy-Related Outcomes among Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-42, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shelly Ruart & Stéphane Sinnapah & Olivier Hue & Eustase Janky & Sophie Antoine-Jonville, 2020. "Prenatal Counseling throughout Pregnancy: Effects on Physical Activity Level, Perceived Barriers, and Perinatal Health Outcomes: A Quasi-Experimental Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(23), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Wei Zhang & Ying Jin & Ningning Liu & Zhenzhen Xiang & Xiaojuan Wang & Ping Xu & Pingping Guo & Minna Mao & Suwen Feng, 2022. "Predicting Physical Activity in Chinese Pregnant Women Using Multi-Theory Model: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
    3. Carmen W.H. Chan & Daria Tai & Stephanie Kwong & Ka Ming Chow & Dorothy N.S. Chan & Bernard M.H. Law, 2020. "The Effects of Pharmacological and Non-Pharmacological Interventions on Symptom Management and Quality of Life among Breast Cancer Survivors Undergoing Adjuvant Endocrine Therapy: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-44, April.
    4. Rebeca de Castro & Raul Antunes & Diogo Mendes & Anna Szumilewicz & Rita Santos-Rocha, 2022. "Can Group Exercise Programs Improve Health Outcomes in Pregnant Women? An Updated Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-36, April.
    5. Farah Nawabi & Franziska Krebs & Laura Lorenz & Arim Shukri & Adrienne Alayli & Stephanie Stock, 2022. "Health Literacy among Pregnant Women in a Lifestyle Intervention Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:3:p:1822-:d:1040655. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.