Physical activity in pregnancy

Staying active during pregnancy can help a person stay strong, feel and sleep better, and prepare the body for birth, according to MedlinePlus, which also says to check with a provider about which types of activity are right. The 2019 Canadian guideline on physical activity in pregnancy says the benefits are moderate and that no harms were identified.

Intervention
In this atlas

Overview

Technical summary

Two sources: the MedlinePlus pregnancy topic (last updated June 9, 2025) and the PubMed abstract of the 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy. The abstract does not print the recommendations, such as how much activity is advised or who should avoid it, and the full text could not be fetched, so this page states neither.

About this intervention

Type: Lifestyle
Mechanism: Not reported

Claims and evidence

Context Pregnant women (2019 Canadian guideline on physical activity)

Recipient: Maternal
Population: Pregnant women. The guideline is written for pregnant women and for obstetric care and exercise professionals. The outcomes it evaluated were maternal, fetal or neonatal morbidity, or fetal mortality, during and following pregnancy.
Care setting: Not stated in the PubMed abstract
Geography: Canada (a Canadian guideline according to its title); the abstract does not describe settings.
Life stage: Throughout pregnancy and, for the outcomes evaluated, following pregnancy
Gestational age: Not reported
Postnatal age: Not reported
Follow-up: Not applicable (recommendation context)

Eligibility: 1 inclusion criterion; 1 exclusion criterion

Included: Pregnant women
Excluded: Not stated in the PubMed abstract

Description Guidance Certainty not assessed

The 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy gives guidance to pregnant women and to obstetric care and exercise professionals. Its abstract says the benefits of prenatal physical activity are moderate and no harms were identified, so the difference between desirable and undesirable consequences (net benefit) is expected to be moderate. It adds that most stakeholders and end users said following the recommendations would be feasible, acceptable and equitable, and that doing so is likely to need minimal resources.
Applies to Maternal
- Pregnant women. The guideline is written for pregnant women and for obstetric care and exercise professionals. The outcomes it evaluated were maternal, fetal or neonatal morbidity, or fetal mortality, during and following pregnancy.
- Not stated in the PubMed abstract
- Canada (a Canadian guideline according to its title); the abstract does not describe settings.
- Throughout pregnancy and, for the outcomes evaluated, following pregnancy
- Gestational age Not reported
- Postnatal age Not reported
Follow-up Not applicable (recommendation context)
Certainty method
Not assessed

Limitations
Only the PubMed abstract was read. It does not print the recommendations themselves, such as how much activity is advised or who should not exercise, so the atlas does not state them. The full text could not be fetched (HTTP 403 from bjsm.bmj.com and doi.org, a Cloudflare challenge). The abstract says the quality of evidence was rated with GRADE but gives no certainty rating, so certainty is not assessed. The title says 2019 while PubMed gives the issue date 2018 Nov (volume 52, issue 21).

Last checked
2026-10-14

Next evidence check due
Not scheduled
Sources and citations (6)
1. Supports 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy
  
  Publication · British journal of sports medicine · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100056 · PMID: 30337460
  
  Locator
  Abstract, sentence 10
  
  How it applies
  PubMed abstract of the guideline (Br J Sports Med).
  
  Retrieved
  2026-10-14T18:18:20Z
  
  Source effective date
  Not reported
  
  Source state
  Current
  
  Snapshot hash
  bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401
  
  Reuse basis
  PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
2. Supports 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy
  
  Publication · British journal of sports medicine · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100056 · PMID: 30337460
  
  Locator
  Abstract, sentence 11
  
  How it applies
  PubMed abstract of the guideline (Br J Sports Med).
  
  Retrieved
  2026-10-14T18:18:20Z
  
  Source effective date
  Not reported
  
  Source state
  Current
  
  Snapshot hash
  bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401
  
  Reuse basis
  PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
3. Supports 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy
  
  Publication · British journal of sports medicine · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100056 · PMID: 30337460
  
  Locator
  Abstract, sentence 12
  
  How it applies
  PubMed abstract of the guideline (Br J Sports Med).
  
  Retrieved
  2026-10-14T18:18:20Z
  
  Source effective date
  Not reported
  
  Source state
  Current
  
  Snapshot hash
  bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401
  
  Reuse basis
  PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
4. Background 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy
  
  Publication · British journal of sports medicine · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100056 · PMID: 30337460
  
  Locator
  Abstract, sentence 1
  
  How it applies
  Purpose, outcomes evaluated and the GRADE method.
  
  Retrieved
  2026-10-14T18:18:20Z
  
  Source effective date
  Not reported
  
  Source state
  Current
  
  Snapshot hash
  bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401
  
  Reuse basis
  PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
5. Background 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy
  
  Publication · British journal of sports medicine · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100056 · PMID: 30337460
  
  Locator
  Abstract, sentence 2
  
  How it applies
  Purpose, outcomes evaluated and the GRADE method.
  
  Retrieved
  2026-10-14T18:18:20Z
  
  Source effective date
  Not reported
  
  Source state
  Current
  
  Snapshot hash
  bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401
  
  Reuse basis
  PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.
6. Background 2019 Canadian guideline for physical activity throughout pregnancy
  
  Publication · British journal of sports medicine · Edition PubMed record (abstract and bibliographic data) from NCBI E-utilities, fetched 2026-10-14. The full text and the version of record were not fetched. · DOI: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-100056 · PMID: 30337460
  
  Locator
  Abstract, sentence 7
  
  How it applies
  Purpose, outcomes evaluated and the GRADE method.
  
  Retrieved
  2026-10-14T18:18:20Z
  
  Source effective date
  Not reported
  
  Source state
  Current
  
  Snapshot hash
  bfd42b5261b0a4276268817ec9a2b715b7e37e3108c4188b5ea01221ca94e401
  
  Reuse basis
  PubMed record fetched through NCBI E-utilities. Only the hash of the bytes is kept, because publisher copyright may apply to the abstract (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disclaimer/). Short factual quotations under 25 words, with the citation.

Record details

Record id: maternal:physical-activity-in-pregnancy
Content hash: 6c46f9255cb336f99ba67b6cf78d7ed7e9fd04c3713091eac2e6873c9842ed01