Abstract des Autors

There are many articles written about the behavior of the fetal heart during maternal exercise. Unfortunately the results are often difficult to valuate due to the low number of pregnant women tested; the different type, intensity and duration of exercise and the diversity of the gestational age. Most of the evidences suggests a more or less reduction of the vascular peripheral resistance and of the arterial-venous oxygen difference in the pregnant women involved in a single exercise session; moreover blood flow in the fetal aorta did not show any significant change. Observations of fetal bradycardia during and after maternal exercise are not common and difficult to explain. Probably this mechanism may be the initial fetal response to significant hypoxia and may be a normal protective cardiovascular reflex. Usually the fetal response to maternal aerobic exercise is a gradual increase of 10 beats/min which returns to pre-exercise value within 30 min. Our findings suggest, in accordance with many studies, that physical exercise during pregnancy is not harmful to the fetal well-being provided that it has to be mild to moderate and interval type exercise (not long continuous ones), and not particularly strenuous during late gestation. Maternal aerobic exercise produces beneficial effects upon the course of pregnancy and labour. Verf.-Referat