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Effects Of An In-Bed Resistance Exercise Program For Hospitalized High Risk Pregnant Women On Postpartum Functional Ability And Psychosocial Health, Charity Mccarthy

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Hospitalised high-risk pregnant women (HHRPW) report physiological deconditioning similar to non-pregnant bed-rested patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an in-bed resistance exercise program to reduce the side-effects of activity-restriction in HHRPW. It was hypothesized that HHRPW who exercised while in hospital would have better functional ability and a higher quality of life at two months postpartum compared to HHRPW with no exercise program. HHRPW were activity-restricted (1940 ±1405 steps/day) in hospital and reported high rates of anxiety and depression. Nine women were randomized to either a supervised in-bed exercise (n=5) or into a …