• Veerle Herzberger, Elke Bäz, Mirjam Kunze, Filiz Markfeld-Erol, and Ingolf Juhasz-Böss.
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical Center - University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
• Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2022 Nov 18; 119 (46): 793797793-797.

BackgroundPregnancy is a good time to motivate women to implement health-promoting behaviors in their everyday lives. There is no official German-language guideline for the counseling of pregnant women by professionals involved in their care. The goal of this review is, therefore, to discuss the links between exercise and gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM), low birth weight, and prematurity.MethodsThis review is based on pertinent articles retrieved by a systematic search of PubMed and the Web of Science. The articles included in the evaluation were reports of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and meta-analyses of RCTs of exercise interventions in pregnant women that were published from 1 January 2011 to 15 November 2021.ResultsA structured exercise program during pregnancy can lower the risk of gestational diabetes by as much as 49%. A 25% risk reduction for GDM was achieved with 140 minutes of exercise per week. The mean birth weight was not affected but the rate of excessively heavy newborns was lowered by 32-59% in the normal-weight subgroup. This effect was not seen in the overweight subgroup, possibly because of poorer compliance. Exercise did not elevate the risk of preterm delivery.ConclusionRegular exercise during pregnancy lessens gestationally induced weight gain and lowers the risk of excessive weight gain, as well as the risk of GDM, without elevating the risk of preterm delivery.

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