Impact of Physical Activity During Pregnancy on Delivery

Although cesarean section is an essential maternal healthcare service, it has both maternal and neonatal adverse outcomes as compared to spontaneous vaginal delivery. Physical activities enhance the strength of the abdominal, diaphragm, and pelvic floor muscles, stretching the thigh and back leg adductors; all these help the women more easily turn to and keep their natural relaxant pelvic adequacy. This might facilitate spontaneous vaginal delivery with a short duration of labor. The objective of this study is to assess the effect of degree of physical activity during pregnancy on mode of delivery and duration of labor. A cross-sectional study was conducted in 150 women who gave birth from November 2021 to February 2022 at MTUTH, Ethiopia. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis, chi-square, and t test were conducted to check the presence of any association between the dependent and independent variables. A p value of < 0.05 will be considered statistically significant. Our study found that 87% of women who engaged in vigorous physical activities had spontaneous vaginal deliveries. Of those women who have light physical activities, only 16.5% have spontaneous vaginal delivery. The duration of labor for women with vigorous and light physical activity was 5.2 ± 2.07 and 8.9 ± 2.8 h, respectively. Engaging in the recommended amount of aerobic exercise while pregnant under a doctor’s supervision is crucial for reducing the duration of labor and the need for an operational delivery.