Exercise during pregnancy decreases costs, improves outcomes in obese women: study

Public health initiatives should focus on increasing access to exercise for pregnant women

By Ariane Le Chevallier February 15, 2017 Portland, Ore.

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Leah Savitsky, fourth-year medical student in the OHSU School of Medicine. (OHSU)

Aaron B. Caughey, M.D., Ph.D., is the chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and associate dean for Women’s Health Research and Policy, OHSU School of Medicine. (OHSU)

Pregnancy exercise: Table 1

Perinatal outcome differences data, presented at the Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine 2017 conference, showed that adding exercise could result in 74,824 fewer cases of preeclampsia, (a 7 percent reduction), 109,980 fewer cases of gestational diabetes, and 14,136 fewer preterm births per 1,000,000 women treated. (OHSU)

Pregnancy exercise: Table 2

Data from a study shows that exercising in pregnancy is a cost-saving intervention up to a cost of $2,934 per patient, and cost-effective up to a threshold of $4,005 per patient due to improved outcomes (with a threshold of the standard cost of $100,000). (OHSU)