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Research Article
Influence of a supervised antenatal exercise program on estimates of heart rate responsiveness
1 School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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Michael J Lewis
School of Sport and Exercise Sciences, Swansea University, Swansea,
UK
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Article ID: 100007M01RC2019
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Carpenter R, Lewis MJ. Influence of a supervised antenatal exercise program on estimates of heart rate responsiveness. Edorium J Matern Child Health 2019;4:100007M01RC2019.ABSTRACT
Aims: This study examined the influence of a supervised antenatal exercise program on heart rate function in pregnant women.
Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to an Exercise group (weekly physical exercise) or a Control group. Physiological assessments were carried out during mid- and late pregnancy and three months following birth. Heart rate variability (HRV) provided estimates of cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic control, and phase-rectified signal averaging (PRSA) provided estimates of cardiac acceleration (AC) and deceleration (DC) capacities. The testing protocol included a range of physical states designed to provoke autonomically mediated changes in heart rate. Relationships between cardiac variables and participants’ ages and body mass indices (BMIs) were also assessed.
Results: Heart rate variability indices were similarly reduced during late pregnancy in both groups of women, with the exception of the normalized high frequency index (HFn). High frequency index was significantly lower for “exercisers” during late pregnancy, suggesting a greater shift toward sympathetic dominance. Exercisers also had greater reductions in AC/DC during late pregnancy, indicating reductions in heart rate responsiveness. Early-pregnancy BMI was a predictor of HF, AC, and DC during late pregnancy in Controls but not in Exercisers.
Conclusion: This study has extended our understanding of 2019 the influence of antenatal exercise on heart rate responsiveness. Women who exercised regularly had the lowest values for AC/DC during late pregnancy, and we speculate that this might reflect a positive influence of exercise on uterine arterial impedance.
Keywords: Autonomic nervous system, Heart rate variability, Physical activity, Pregnancy
SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Acknowledgments
Dr Carpenter received a NISCHR (Welsh Government National Institute for Social Care and Health Research) PhD studentship (HS/10/07), and The Cooperative Pharmacy (UK) provided financial support for project consumables.
Author ContributionsRhiannon Carpenter - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Michael J Lewis - Substantial contributions to conception and design, Acquisition of data, Analysis of data, Interpretation of data, Drafting the article, Revising it critically for important intellectual content, Final approval of the version to be published
Guaranter of SubmissionThe corresponding author is the guarantor of submission.
Source of SupportNone
Consent StatementWritten informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this article.
Data AvailabilityAll relevant data are within the paper and its Supporting Information files.
Conflict of InterestAuthors declare no conflict of interest.
Copyright© 2019 Rhiannon Carpenter et al. This article is distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium provided the original author(s) and original publisher are properly credited. Please see the copyright policy on the journal website for more information.
