Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Fetal Outcomes in Diabetic Pregnant Women

ADLY A. SABBOUR, Ph.D., FATIMA M. EL-BELIDY, M.Sc.;; AMIR A. GABR, M.D., ABEER M. EL-DEEB, Ph.D.;

doi:10.21608/mjcu.2019.53358

Effect of Aerobic Exercise on Fetal Outcomes in Diabetic Pregnant Women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

The Department of Physical Therapy for Women's Health, Faculty of Physical Therapy* and The Department of Medicine for Gynecology & Obstetrics, Faculty of Medicine**, Cairo University, Egypt

10.21608/mjcu.2019.53358

Abstract

Abstract
Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of aerobic exercise on fetal outcomes including body weight, fetal length, head circumference, infants' chest circumference, abdominal circumference and Apgar score 1 and 2 in gesta-tional diabetic women.
Material and Methods: Thirty gestational diabetic women were randomly distributed into two groups equal in number. The control group received insulin therapy and diet recom-mendations, while the exercise group received the same treatment and aerobic exercise in form of treadmill training for 30 minutes/day for 3 times/week.
Results: Comparing both groups post-intervention, results revealed that there were statistically non-significant differences in the gestational age (p=0.48), infants' length (p=0.86), head circumference (p=0. 15), infants' chest circumference (p=0.09), and Apgar score 1 (p=0.051). However, there was a statistical significant decrease in infants' weight (p=0.003), and abdom-inal circumference (p=0.001), as well as a statistical significant increase in Apgar score 2 (p=0.02).
Conclusion: The aerobic exercise showed improvements in the fetal outcomes without producing any harmful effects to infants of diabetic women.

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