title: Influence of Land or Water Exercise in Pregnancy on Outcomes: A Cross-sectional Study.
abstract: This study aimed to compare the cross-sectional results from three experimental studies conducted on land, in water, and in mixed form (land + water) during pregnancy on maternal and newborn outcomes.
  
  
  
  A cross-sectional design was used to analyze the results of three randomized clinical trials in healthy pregnant women from Madrid (Spain) and Buenos Aires (Argentina). Five hundred and sixty-eight pregnant women were recruited. For each of the studies, the number of women in the exercise group totaled 107 for study 1 (land), 49 women for study 2 (water), and 101 women for study 3 (land + water). A total of 311 women represented the control group (CG) (pooled together from all three studies).
  
  
  
  Total maternal weight gain was different between study 1 and CG (11.7 vs 13.4 kg, P = 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.38) as well as the percentage of pregnant women with excessive weight gain (20.6%, n = 22, vs 37.9%, n = 118, respectively, P = 0.005, χ = 16.6, OR = 0.42, 95% confidence interval = 0.25-0.71). The number of pregnant women with gestational diabetes in CG was significantly higher than that in studies 2 and 3 (CG n = 22/7.1%; study 2, n = 0/0%; and study 3, n = 1/1%; P = 0.03, χ = 8.9).
  
  
  
  Exercise performed on land is more effective than aquatic activities in preventing excessive maternal weight gain, whereas combined programs (land + aquatic) or water exercise programs may be more effective in preventing gestational diabetes.
authors.affiliation: 1AFIPE Research Group, Technical University of Madrid, Madrid, SPAIN; 2Research Institute Hospital 12 de Octubre ('i+12'), Madrid, SPAIN; 3Physical Activity and Sport Science Faculty, Catholic University of Murcia, Murcia, SPAIN; 4Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports, Flores University, Buenos Aires, ARGENTINA; and 5R. Samuel McLaughlin Foundation-Exercise and Pregnancy Laboratory, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Children's Health Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, CANADA.
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barakat
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Perales
authors.forename: Yaiza
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cordero
authors.forename: Mariano
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bacchi
authors.forename: Michelle F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Mottola
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001034:Apgar Score; D001724:Birth Weight; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D016640:Diabetes, Gestational / Q000517:prevention & control; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D064797:Physical Conditioning, Human / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome; D014867:Water; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D014867:Water