@misc{10481/62533, year = {2020}, month = {2}, url = {http://hdl.handle.net/10481/62533}, abstract = {Aim To analyse i) the association of physical fitness during early second trimester and late pregnancy with maternal and neonatal outcomes; and ii) to investigate whether physical fitness is associated with the type of birth (vaginal or caesarean section). Methods Pregnant women from the GESTAFIT Project (n = 159) participated in this longitudinal study. Maternal physical fitness including upper- and lower-body strength, cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and flexibility were measured through objective physical fitness tests at the 16th and 34th gestational weeks. Maternal and neonatal outcomes were collected from obstetric medical records. Umbilical arterial and venous blood gas pH and partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PCO2) and oxygen (PO2), were assessed. Results At the 16th week, greater upper-body muscle strength was associated with greater neonatal birth weight (r = 0.191, p<0.05). Maternal flexibility was associated with a more alkaline arterial pH (r = 0.220, p<0.05), higher arterial PO2 (r = 0.237, p<0.05) and lower arterial PCO2 (r = -0.331, p<0.01) in umbilical cord blood. Maternal CRF at the 16th gestational week was related to higher arterial umbilical cord PO2 (r = 0.267, p<0.05). The women who had caesarean sections had lower CRF (p<0.001) at the 16th gestational week and worse clustered overall physical fitness, both at the 16th (-0.227, p = 0.003, confidence interval (CI): -0.376, -0.078) and 34th gestational week (-0.223; p = 0.018; CI: -0.432, -0.015) compared with the women who had vaginal births. Conclusion Increasing physical fitness during pregnancy may promote better neonatal outcomes and is associated with a decrease in the risk of caesarean section. This trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02582567) on October 20, 2015.}, organization = {This study was part of VAA fellowship from the Andalucı´a Talent-Hub Program, launched by the Andalusian Knowledge Agency, co-funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program, Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (COFUND–Grant Agreement nº291780) and the Junta de Andalucı´a. ICR (grant number: FPU13/01993) was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education. This study was also partially funded by the Regional Ministry of Health of the Junta de Andalucı´a (PI-0395-2016) and the University of Granada, Plan Propio de Investigacio´n 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence on Exercise and Health (UCEES). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {Association of objectively measured physical fitness during pregnancy with maternal and neonatal outcomes. The GESTAFIT Project}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0229079}, author = {Baena García, Laura and Coll Risco, Irene and Ocón Hernández, Olga and Romero Gallardo, Lidia and Acosta Manzano, Pedro and Aparicio García-Molina, Virginia}, }