Relationship Between Physical Activity During Pregnancy and Mood Changes After Delivery in Japanese Women

To assess the association between physical activity during pregnancy and mood changes after delivery, we surveyed 107 pregnant women who had a normal vaginal delivery in the Gynecological Department of Juntendo University Hospital. The study participants completed a structured questionnaire four times, viz. at 12, 25, and 36 weeks’ gestation and at 1 month after delivery. The first three questionnaires focused on physical exercise activity in the most recent 4 weeks. The forth questionnaire focused on mood changes, assessed by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Profile of Mood States (POMS), and Visual Analog Scale fatigue score (VAS). In total, 12.9%, 29.8%, and 34.6% of the participants engaged in physical activity at 12, 25, and 36 weeks’ gestation, respectively. By contrast to the observation of decrease in women exercising from the second to third trimester1), the proportion of participants exercising increased from the 12th to 36th week of gestation in the present study. This discrepancy was probably due to the differences in socio-demographic characteristics of participants in the two studies. There were no differences in EPDS and VAS between women who had been physically active and inactive at 12, 25, or 36 weeks’ gestation. The results of the POMS showed that although there were no differences between women who were active and inactive at 12 and 25 weeks’ gestation, the “Vigor” scale was significantly higher (p<0.05) and the “Fatigue” scale was significantly lower (p<0.05) in women who were physically active at 36 weeks’ gestation than in women who were inactive at the same time. These results suggest that even if women do not engage in physical activity during the first or second trimester, physical activity during the third trimester may improve the mood after delivery.