Community Expecting: Exercise During Pregnancy

Study Summary

Regular physical activity during pregnancy is safe and offers many health benefits for both mothers and their babies. Research over the past decade shows that exercise can help pregnant women gain a healthy amount of weight, lower their risk of gestational diabetes and high blood pressure, and reduce stress, anxiety, and symptoms of postpartum depression. Babies also benefit when their mothers are active, with lower risks of preterm birth, unhealthy birth size, and childhood obesity. Despite this strong evidence, very few exercise programs for pregnant women have been tested in real-world community settings, such as fitness centers, community health programs, or local organizations. Even fewer studies explain how these programs were delivered or what helped them succeed. Without this information, it is difficult for communities and health programs to offer exercise support that is both effective and practical for pregnant women. To address this gap, the research team adapted an evidence-based program called EXPECTING so it could be delivered by community organizations. Previous participants and community advisors helped to understand what changes were needed to make the program easier to offer while still keeping it safe and effective. The core parts of the program, including the type, amount, and intensity of aerobic and strength-building exercises, remained the same and are based on established pregnancy exercise guidelines. The adapted program, called COMMUNITY EXPECTING, includes both aerobic exercise and resistance training. The research team also developed specific supports to help community instructors deliver the program consistently and with confidence. All program components have already been tested in community settings and shown to be realistic, acceptable, and delivered as planned. This study will examine whether offering a structured exercise program in community settings helps pregnant women be more physically active than usual prenatal care alone

Primary Outcome

All "expecting mother" participants in both groups will receive a FitBit arm bracelet to self-monitor activity levels and for the research team to monitor their physical activity levels. They will also submit their step counts on a weekly basis and/or give permission for us to access their step count data from the Fitbit records. Weekly step count logs are sent to the participant through REDCap via email or text message. The message contains a "survey link" produced by REDCap, where the particip

Conditions Studied

Interventions

• BEHAVIORAL Community Expecting

Study Locations (1)