Association of Self-Reported Physical Fitness during Late Pregnancy with Birth Outcomes and Oxytocin Administration during Labour—The GESTAFIT Project Baena García, Laura Marín Jiménez, Nuria Romero Gallardo, Lidia Borges Cosic, Milkana Ocón Hernández, Olga De la Flor Alemany, Marta Aparicio García-Molina, Virginia Umbilical cord blood Maternal health Physical fitness Flexibility Pregnancy outcome We explored (a) the associations between self-reported maternal physical fitness and birth outcomes; (b) whether self-reported maternal physical fitness (PF) is related to the administration of oxytocin to induce or stimulate labour. Pregnant women from the GESTAFIT project randomized controlled trial (n = 117) participated in this prospective longitudinal study. Maternal physical fitness was assessed through the International Fitness Scale at the 34th gestational week. Maternal and neonatal birth outcomes and oxytocin administration were collected from the obstetric medical records. Umbilical arterial and venous cord blood gas were analysed immediately after birth. Selfreported overall fitness, cardiorespiratory fitness, muscular strength and flexibility were not related to any maternal and neonatal birth outcomes (all p > 0.05). Greater speed-agility was associated with a more alkaline arterial (p = 0.04) and venous (p = 0.02) pH in the umbilical cord blood. Women who were administered oxytocin to induce or stimulate labour reported lower cardiorespiratory fitness (p = 0.013, Cohen’s d = 0.55; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.14, 0.93) and flexibility (p = 0.040, Cohen´s d = 0.51; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.89) compared to women who were not administered oxytocin. Greater maternal physical fitness during pregnancy could be associated with better neonatal birth outcomes and lower risk of needing oxytocin administration. 2021-09-28T11:34:44Z 2021-09-28T11:34:44Z 2021 info:eu-repo/semantics/article Baena-García, L.; Marín-Jiménez, N.; Romero-Gallardo, L.; Borges-Cosic, M.; Ocón-Hernández, O.; Flor-Alemany, M.; Aparicio, V.A. Association of Self-Reported Physical Fitness during Late Pregnancy with Birth Outcomes and Oxytocin Administration during Labour—The GESTAFIT Project. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 8201. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijerph18158201 http://hdl.handle.net/10481/70501 10.3390/ijerph18158201 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/ info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Atribución 3.0 España MDPI