Depression is commonly seen among women during the perinatal period. This can significantly affect the mother, the child and the family. A study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine evaluated the impact of an exercise programme during pregnancy on the risk of perinatal depression. Investigators enrolled healthy women who were <16 weeks pregnant. The participants were randomized to two different groups. Women in the intervention group were subjected to a 60 min exercise programme throughout pregnancy, 3 days per week, from October 2014 to December 2016. The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale helped quantify the risk of depression at the beginning of the study (12-16 weeks), at gestational week 38 and at 6 weeks postpartum. In all, 124 pregnant women were allocated to either the intervention (IG=70) or the control (CG=54) group. There were no differences in the percentage of depressed women at baseline in the two groups (20% vs. 18.5%). According to the per-protocol analysis, researchers noted a smaller percentage of depressed women in IG compared with CG at 38 gestational weeks (18.6% vs. 35.6%) and at 6 weeks postpartum (14.5% vs. 29.8%). No significant differences could be seen using the intention-to-treat analyses, except in the multiple imputation analysis at week 38 (18.6% vs. 34.4%).

It was concluded that an exercise programme during pregnancy can potentially reduce the prevalence of depression in late pregnancy and postpartum.