Efficacy of Mobile Phone-based Physical Activity Intervention in Pregnancy on Maternal and Child Health Outcomes (Full and Fit Mama Study)

Olabisi Akinwande, Michael Okunlola, Joseph Babalola, Olufemi Adegbesan, Comfort Sanuade, Chidozie Mbada, Oladunni Osundiya
Purpose:

This study aimed to investigate the effects of Clinic-based Six-Minute Walk-Talk (Cb6MWT) and Mobile Phone-based Six-Minute Walk-Talk (MPb6MWT) interventions on maternal (blood sugar level, blood pressure, heart rate, body weight, caloric expenditure, and oxygen saturation (SPO2) and child (gestational birth weight, age, and mode of delivery) health outcomes among pregnant women.

Methods:

95 consenting pregnant women (Cb6MWT (n=36), MPb6MWT (n=31) or Control (n=28) Group) in their second trimester participated in this randomised control trial for 12 weeks. The Cb6MWT group received a six-minute Walk-Talk PA plus the usual antenatal care (ANC). MPb6MWT is a digital replica of the Cb6MWT, while the control group received the usual ANC only. Maternal health outcomes were assessed at the 6th and 12th weeks, while child health outcomes were obtained from case notes after delivery.

Results:

There were significant within-group differences in Cb6MWT and MPb6MWT for PA (0.001 and 0.001), calories (p=0.001 and 0.050), SPO2 (p=0.001 and 0.013), blood sugar level (p=0.001 and 0.001), and heart rate (p=0.006 and 0.101) at week six; and for PA (2446.3±183.1 and 2358.2±195.0), blood sugar level (77.8±4.69, and 79.9±5.53) scores at week 12, respectively. Across-group comparison (Cb6MWT vs MPb6MWT vs Control) led to higher improvements in child outcomes in terms of birth weight (p=0.001), gestational age (p=0.001), and number of spontaneous vaginal delivery (p=0.005).

Conclusion(s):

MPb6MWT led to better maternal health outcomes vis increased step count, performance of light and moderate intensity PA, calorie expenditure and decreased diastolic blood pressure and blood glucose level than Cb6MWT but lesser outcomes on child health among the pregnant women. MPb6MWT and Cb6MWT may help improve maternal and child outcomes among pregnant women.

Implications:

This study's findings shows the effectiveness of digital PA intervention on maternal and child outcomes among pregnant women.

This is the first study to report the effectiveness of a walk-talk PA among pregnant women

Funding acknowledgements:
No funding was received for this study
Keywords:
Women's health
Physical Activity
Digital health or Telemedicine
Primary topic:
Women's health
Second topic:
Health promotion and wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Did this work require ethics approval?:
Yes
Name the institution and ethics committee that approved your work:
Ethical approval was sought from the UI/UCH Institutional Review Board
Provide the ethics approval number:
(NHREC/05/01/2008a/UI/EC/18/0130)
Has any of this material been/due to be published or presented at another national or international conference prior to the World Physiotherapy Congress 2025?:
No

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