Physical Activity Counseling Received Throughout Pregnancy: Effect on Behaviors: A Quasi-experimental Study.

Abstract Background: Pregnant women declare perceived barriers to physical activity. Although physical activity is not often dispensed, effective counseling by health professionals is recommended. Health professionals training has been proposed as a target to improve physical activity effective counseling. The objective was to evaluate the physical activity counseling of trained and untrained health professionals given to pregnant women and the effect on the women’s physical activity behaviors.Methods: In a quasi-experimental trial, 72 pregnant women were allocated to a control or intervention group. Physical activity counseling was dispensed to the women in the intervention group by trained healthcare providers throughout pregnancy. The women in the control group followed the usual consultations. The counseling and physical activity levels were evaluated by Chi2 tests and repeated measures ANOVAs respectively.Results: Overall, the women received little counseling in accordance with the recommendations, although the intervention group women received it more frequently (p=0.049). All women who received counseling throughout pregnancy limited their decline in physical activity more than the others. The decline in sports activity among normal-weight pregnant women was reduced in the intervention group (p=0.032), and sedentary activity was preserved among the pre-pregnancy overweight women (p=0.027). The total quantity of physical activity was not different in women who received counseling in accordance with recommendations compared with that of the others.Conclusion: Our intervention showed the effectiveness of counseling on physical activity behaviors, although the effect was limited. Training for professionals should be strengthened to ensure that counseling in line with the recommendations is provided throughout pregnancy.Pregnant women should be encouraged to engage in physical activity from the beginning of pregnancy.Trial registration: The database for this study was retrospectively registered under No. MR 5815250919.