title: [Physical activity by pregnant women and its influence on maternal and foetal parameters; a systematic review].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Regular physical activity is known to be very beneficial to health. While it is important at all stages of life, during pregnancy doubts may arise about the suitability of physical exercise, as well as the type of activity, its frequency, intensity and duration.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To analyse major studies on the influence of physical activity on maternal and foetal parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Systematic review of physical activity programmes for pregnant women and the results achieved, during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum. 45 items were identified through an automated database search in PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar, carried out from October 2013 to March 2014. In selecting the items, the criteria applied included the usefulness and relevance of the subject matter and the credibility or experience of the research study authors. The internal and external validity of each of the articles reviewed was taken into account.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the review highlight the importance of physical activity during pregnancy, and show that the information currently available can serve as an initial benchmark for further investigation into the impact of regular physical exercise, in an aquatic environment, on maternal-foetal health.
authors.affiliation: PhD. Departamento de Enfermería. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Granada. Hospital Clínico San Cecilio de Granada (España).. mariajaguilar@telefonica.net.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Aguilar Cordero
authors.affiliation: BsC. Grupo de Investigación CTS 367. Plan Andaluz de Investigación. Junta de Andalucía (España). Departamento de Enfermería. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Granada (España).. antoniosl@ugr.es.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Sánchez López
authors.affiliation: BsC. Matrona Distrito Sanitario Granada-Metropolitano. Departamento de Enfermería. Universidad de Granada (España).. rarobla@gmail.com.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Rodríguez Blanque
authors.affiliation: BsC. Universidad de Santo Tomás. Talca (Chile).. noackjessica1966@gmail.com.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Noack Segovia
authors.affiliation: PhD. Departamento de Enfermería. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Granada (España).. pozocano@ugr.es.
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Pozo Cano
authors.affiliation: PhD. Facultad de Ciencias del Deporte. Universidad de Granada (España). Grupo de investigación: Actividad Física y deportiva en Medio Acuático (CTS-527).. gracia@ugr.es.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: López-Contreras
authors.affiliation: PhD. Grupo de Investigación CTS 367. Plan Andaluz de Investigación. Junta de Andalucía (España). Facultad de Ciencias Médicas de Cienfuegos (Cuba).. normamur@jagua.cfg.sld.cu.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mur Villar
mesh_terms: D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D005333:Fetus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000502:physiology*