Adherence to physical activity among pregnant women in Southern Italy: results of a cross-sectional survey.

Problem: Knowledge about physical activity in pregnancy is limited compared to general population and several approaches have been used to evaluate duration and intensity of physical activity during pregnancy.

Background: Although physical activity can contribute to maternal and fetal well-being, more than half of women stopped their physical activity because of pregnancy.

Aim: To evaluate the adherence to physical activity of low-risk pregnant women by adapting an Italian version of the PPAQ.

Methods: PPAQ was administered to women with singleton uneventful pregnancies between May and December 2022. The intensity of physical activity was calculated using activity's metabolic equivalent (MET).

Findings: Respondents spent 8.5 hours/week during the third trimester in all the types of activities included in the questionnaire, and the majority of METs were spent in household/caregiving activities (91.7 METs-h/week). Only 2,6 % of women reported they spent at least 150 minutes per week in moderate-intensity sport/exercise activity. One-hundred-forty-one women (37.2 %) reported they have been counselled by a midwife or an obstetrician regarding the importance of physical activity in pregnancy and 164 participants (43.3 %) declared that have been advised in favour of bed rest at least once in the current pregnancy.

Discussion: Our results showed that a very small percentage was regularly involved in sport/exercise activities.

Conclusion: The engagement in physical activity of pregnant women during the third trimester is still very low and specific policies to improve exercise in pregnancy should be warrantied.