The Perceived Barriers to Physical Activity in Pregnant Women: A Review Study

Despite all the positive effects of physical activity on maternal and fetal health, its level is low among pregnant women. Various barriers seem to prevent physical activity during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to investigate and determine the barriers to physical activity during pregnancy based on a review of available literature. 

To review the available literature, the authors searched Persian databases, such as Iran Medex, Magiran, MedLib, and SID, and also English databases, including Scopus, PubMed, Elsevier, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, and ProQuest using the keywords of pregnant woman, physical activity, exercise, barriers, pregnancy, constraints, and attitudes individually or in combination between 2000 and 2020 and finally, 10 articles that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. An ecological model was used to classify the reported barriers.

Seven quantitative articles and three qualitative articles were included in the study. Obstacles related to the intrapersonal level of the ecological model were the most reported in these studies and were classified into five areas, including pregnancy symptoms and limitations, time constraints, misunderstanding the adequacy of daily activities, lack of motivation, and maternal and fetus safety concerns. Barriers at the interpersonal level included lack of consultation and information and lack of social support and at the environmental, organizational, and political levels, climate and lack of resources were the most reported barriers.

The present study outlined the perceived barriers to physical activity among pregnant women and highlighted the important factors that should be considered when planning interventions to increase the level of physical activity during pregnancy. Further studies are recommended to provide solutions to overcome these barriers and increase the activity of pregnant women.