Exercising During Pregnancy Eliminates Negative Impact of Gestational Diabetes

Remaining active through regular exercise during pregnancy can eliminate the adverse effects of gestational diabetes on the mother and the child, a new study says.

For the study, Jonatan Ruiz from the University of Granada, Spain, and team included more than 500 healthy pregnant women. Half of the women attended exercise sessions, each lasting nearly one hour, three times a week.

The prevalence of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) among the participants was later tested and recorded. At the end of the study, researchers found women in the exercise group having lower rates of GDM compared to the control group.

Researchers found exercise during pregnancy reducing the risks of macrosomia, a fetal complication related to gestational diabetes. The physical activity during pregnancy also helped women with GDM to avoid an acute or elective cesarean section.

"Regular moderate-intensity exercise performed over the second-third trimesters of pregnancy can be used to attenuate important GDM-related adverse outcomes," the authors concluded.

Reported in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, the findings are expected to help women who experience diabetes after conceiving their child.

"We believe that this result is also of potential clinical relevance owing to the maternal complications associated with cesarean delivery such as infection, excessive blood loss, respiratory complications, reactions to anesthesia, longer hospitalization periods, as well as higher medical cost," the authors told News Medical.

According to an estimate from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), two to 10 pregnant women in every 100 in the U.S. are affected by gestational diabetes, or the development of high blood sugar levels after conceiving a child. It normally disappears after the birth of the baby.

Gestational diabetes puts women at a seven-fold risk of developing type 2 diabetes later, compared to women not having any history of gestational diabetes.