Perceived Benefits of Exercise Among Pregnant Mothers
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The following are the objectives of this study:
To examine the perception of pregnant women in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State on the benefits of exercise during pregnancy.
To examine the importance and benefits of exercise among pregnant women.
To identify the outcome of exercise among pregnant women.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Level of Knowledge of the Importance of Exercise among Pregnant Mothers Knowledge has been variously defined. Hornby (2006) describes knowledge as information, understanding and skills that one gains through education or experience. Knowledge is critical to man’s quality of life because everything that is done depends on knowledge. Knowledge is the sum of conceptions, views and propositions which have been established and tested. In the context of this study, knowledge refers to the act of having adequate information and understanding of the concept of focused antenatal care services. This knowledge can be obtained through health education, electronic media, prints and health education programmes. It could be in realization of the above assertion that Magadu, Maduse & Rodignes (2006) maintained that knowledge of pregnant mothers is a major factor in determining the extent of utilization of benefits of exercise. According to them, the educational status of pregnant mothers is an influencing determinant in the effective utilization of maternal and child health (MCH) services. Igbokwe (2008) indicated that urban and rural locations have great impact on the utilization of the benefit of exercise. Expectant mothers in the urban area utilize antenatal services better than their counterparts in the rural area who have the problems of accessibility to MCH services; some pregnant mothers in the rural area may have basic knowledge of the importance of antenatal services but due to problems of accessibility to health facilities will hinder them from such services (Igbokwe, 2008). Also inadequate knowledge concerning health related matters usually lead to negative attitude towards the health issue. It is positive when a person develops a strong attraction of likeness for the situation, objectives or other persons or groups while it is negative when the person develops dislike for such situations, objectives, group or any other identifiable aspects of our environment (Igbokwe, 2012).
Pregnant Mothers’ Perception of the Benefits of Exercise During Pregnancy Pregnant women generally experiences physical, psychological and physiological changes during pregnancy which often results in decreased in physical activity and thereby place them at a risk of several chronic diseases and a times, it can lead to mortality. Prenatal exercise is of great benefit to both the mother and the foetus in order to reduce risks of disorders associated with pregnancy on them (Clap & Rizzle, 2016). Exercise refers to structured form of physical activity usually for reasons of gaining or maintaining fitness and it produces a versatile range of physical, physiological, biochemical and psychological changes, and the nature and magnitude of these changes depend on the type, frequency of the exercise, exercise intensity, duration of exercise performed especially during the prenatal period (Udoh, 2001). Exercise has been scientifically known for promoting the circulation of blood to both the pregnant women and the vital organs of the foetus. Exercise improves muscle tone, thus enhancing safe and normal delivery (Fraser & Cooper, 2014).
Pre-natal exercise is described as physical activity performed by pregnant women in order to improve their health before delivery (Schuurmans, Senikas, & Lalonde, 2014). It has many benefits such as improvement of cardiovascular fitness, easier and less complicated birth (Clapp, 2000). Simkin, Whalley, & Keppler (2015) emphasized that the best amount and type of exercise for pregnant women is dependent on overall health, the risk level of the pregnancy, the level of her fitness and her activity level before becoming pregnant. Physical changes accompanied with pregnancy directly affect the pregnant women’s tolerance for exercise. Hormonal changes cause the ligament to relax and the joints to become more mobile. The center of gravity shifts because of the enlargement of the abdomen. When pregnant women engages in frequent physical exercise, it will helps to maintain and tones the muscle of the body, makes the pregnant woman to be strong, agile and give the woman the endurance needed during labour. Samselle (2012) listed some conditioning exercises that are introduced to take care of the muscles that pregnancy affects most by pregnancy. These exercises are meant to help the pregnant women make good use of all their muscles during birth, and to increase the speed of post-partum recovery. The conditioning exercise includes pelvic floor exercise (kegel or super kegel exercise) which aim at maintaining the tone of the muscles especially the pelvic muscles, improve circulation, and provide a good support for the uterus and other organs. Another exercise is pelvic tilting which strengthen the abdominal muscles, improve posture and relieves backache.
Simkin, Whalley & Keppler (2015) stated that pre-natal exercise programme for pregnant women should include at least five minutes of warm up (slow, smooth movements and stretching); a period of sustained, vigorous aerobic exercise lasting approximately fifteen minutes; and at least five minutes of cool-down consisting of mild activity until the heart rate returns to normal. The kind of aerobic exercise that is best for pregnant mothers is a low impact exercise which includes brisk walking, swimming, and cycling. In this study prenatal exercise is described as physical effort performed by the pregnant mothers in order to improve their health before delivery.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHOD
Research design
The research design adopted for this study was the descriptive design which enabled the researcher to assess the perceived benefits of exercise among pregnant mothers in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.
Research population Target population
The target population of the study consisted of all registered pregnant women who booked in the Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. This summed up to 531 registered pregnant women.
Accessible population
The accessible population was 150 registered pregnant women from all the wards in the LGA, in Ebonyi. This covered pregnant women who were in the wards as at the time this study was carried out in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.
Sample and sampling technique
The sampling technique used was convenient sampling to enable the researcher select the one hundred and fifty (150) patients that will constitute the sample for this study. The sample size for this study was 150 respondents, the sampling technique adopted for this study was the simple random sampling technique were 50 respondents were selected from three wards making a total of 150 using balloting system of Yes or No. who picked yes were used for the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Socio-demographic data
The socio-demographic data of respondents is presented as shown in Table 1.
Table 2: Socio-demographic data of respondents
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
The study revealed that the respondents’ knowledge of benefits of exercise was good. However despite the above, minority of the respondents still demonstrated poor knowledge and unfavorable attitude which may be due to those factors identified as hindrance to the benefit of exercise. Effort should be made to address those falls to improve their knowledge.
Recommendations
Considering the result of findings, it was recommended among others that:
- Women should be careful when planning to engage in these activities (exercise), mainly when starting only during pregnancy.
- Attention should also be paid in avoiding exercise in supine position during the second half of pregnancy in order to prevent hypotension and avoid the Valsalva maneuver throughout the pregnancy.
- Women should start with 15 min of exercise three times a week and gradually increase to 30 min four times a week at low-to moderate intensity.
- Active women at the Ikwo Local Government Area may keep their routine exercise or perform at least moderate-to vigorous exercise four times a week in sessions of 30 min or more.
- Nurses in the area should also include benefits of exercise in their health talks during antenatal clinic to prevent the negative perception about pregnant mothers’.
Implications for nursing practice
The overall finding obtained from the result revealed pregnant women knowledge based on the benefits of exercise. However, there still exist poor knowledge. This calls for intensive awareness creation on the benefits of exercises among pregnant mothers’ for these women during ANC visit. Also workshop and retraining on component of exercises should be conducted for nurses in Ikwo Local Government Area to update their knowledge and careful monitoring and supervision in order to improve on those observed weaknesses which posed as barriers to utilization of exercise among pregnant women.
REFERENCES
- Adegbesan, O.A., and Roberts, O.A. (2005). Perception of medical caregivers on the role of exercise in the promotion of health and well-being of pregnant women. European Journal of Scientist Research, Vol. 11(1), 97-105.
- American College of Obstetric and Gynaecologist. (2002). ACOG committee opinion: Exercise during pregnancy and the prostration period. International Journal of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, 77, 79-81.
- Clapp, J.F. (2000). Exercise during pregnancy a. Crucial update 3rd edition. Clin sports Med, 19, 273- 286. Clapp, J.F and Rizzle, K. (2016). Effect of recreational exercise on mid trimester placenta growth. American Journal of Obstetric Gynaecologist, vol.16(12), 198-206
- Clarke, P., & Gross, H. (2014). Women’s behaviour, beliefs and information sources about physical exercise in pregnancy. Midwifery, 20, 133-141.
- Cioffi J, Schmied V, Dahlen H, Mills A, Thornton C, Duff M, Cummings J, Kolt GS. (2010). Physical activity in pregnancy: Women perception, practice and influencing factors. J Midwifery Womens Health. 55(5):455-61. doi: 10.1016/j.jmwh.2009.12.003.
- De-Barros, M.C., Lopes, M.A., Francisco R. P., Sapienza, A. D., Zugaib, M. (2010). Resistance exercise and Glycemic control in women with gestational diabetes mellitus. Am J Obstet Gynecol
- Ebonyi State Ministry of Health. (2010). Strategic health development plan. Ebonyi SSHDP, 19(2), 11-21.
- Ekabua, J., Ekabua, K. & Njoku, C. (2011). Proposed framework for making focused antenatal care services accessible: A review of the Nigerian setting. International scholarly research network. ISBN Obstetrics and gynecology, (25), 3964, 5, Doi:10.5402/2011/05394.
