Physical Activity Patterns During Pregnancy in a Sample of Portuguese Women: A Longitudinal Prospective Study

Physical activity (PA) patterns during pregnancy have not been explored in depth and most previous studies lack assessment of variables such as type, frequency, duration and intensity of activity.
This study had two goals: 1) to analyze PA patterns during pregnancy according to weekly time spent on different types of activity; and 2) to determine women’s perception about health care providers regarding PA advisement during pregnancy.
Patients and A longitudinal prospective study was carried out with a 118-pregnant women cohort. Participants were evaluated during all trimesters. Self-reported questionnaires were used to collect personal and obstetric data. Type, duration and frequency of PA were evaluated using the pregnancy physical activity questionnaire (PPAQ) and intensity levels were calculated. Repeated measure analysis of variance was performed to determine differences between trimesters, and Wilcoxon signed-rank test was performed when appropriate.
A decrease in values of self-reported PA (MET.h.wk-1) was found from the first to the second and the first to the third trimester of pregnancy, respectively; total (270.91 vs 220.54 vs 210.35; P Self-reported PA decreased, especially from the first to the second trimester, in total, light and moderate intensity. Women spent most of their weekly time on domestic, occupational and leisure activities, except sport activities. There are some health care providers that do not recommend physical activity during pregnancy.