| Effects of Exercise on the Health-related Fitness, Postpartum Depression and Body Weight in Puerperium Period during Pregnancy |
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Young-Nam Jeon, Jung-Jun Park, Jum-Hong Yang |
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Pusan national university |
Correspondence:
Jum-Hong Yang,
Email: jjparkpnu@pusan.ac.kr
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Received: 28 June 2013 • Accepted: 20 July 2013 |
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| Abstract |
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this study was to compare health-related fitness, postpartum depression, and body weight changes between two groups of women who had regularly exercised during pregnancy and who had not exercised. This study may also provide useful information for exercise prescription in pregnancy women and contribute their health during pregnancy and physical and mental recovery after delivery.
METHOD
Puerperium women who were being served at the postpartum care center located in B Metropolitan City completed a questionnaire to identify their demographic and delivery-related characteristics. Total 22 puerperium women participated in this study and divided into exercise and non-exercise group. Exercise group (n=9) was those who had regularly exercised for more than 5 months during their pregnancy, while non-exercise group (n=13) was those who had not participated in any exercise program during their pregnancy. Exercise group performed pregnancy yoga program 2 days/week, which was composed of 5-10 min warm-up, 30-40 min main exercise, and 5-10 min cool-down. Submaiximal oxygen consumption, handgrip test, partial curl-ups, back scratch, and body composition were measured for health-related fitness. Postpartum depression was tested using by self-rating depression scale. Difference between the exercise and non-exercise groups was examined by t-test. Difference between the two groups in weight change in accordance with the time point of weight measurement was analyzed by two-way repeated ANOVA. All statistical analyses was peformed by using a statistical software SPSS Ver. 12.0 at the statistical significance level of α=.05.
RESULT
Main Findings of the study were that the exercise group had significantly higher health-related fitness than the non-exercise group, especially in cardiovascular fitness, upper-limb flexibility, and lean body mass. Also, exercise group tended to show lower postpartum depression than non-exercise group, which was not statistically significant.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, regular exercise during pregnancy was needed to promote the improvement of physical and mental fitness during pregnancy and after delivery. Therefore, it is needed to develop a well-organized and appropriate exercise program during pregnancy for provide pregnant women. |
| Keywords:
exercise, puerperium period, health-related fitness, postpartum depression, body weight |
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