14 DAY TRIAL // A group of Canadian researchers from the University of Montreal discovered in a new study that pregnant women who exercise while carrying a child can boost their newborn baby's brain development significantly. The team argues that moderate physical exercises are not harmful to the baby.
The study was centered around a relatively easy regimen, featuring only three, 20-minute exercise sessions per week. After analyzing the data they collected, the investigators found that this simple habit could have life-long, positive benefits for the newborns.
For many years, physicians and gynecologists used to tell women that they should rest during pregnancy as much as possible, but studies have since demonstrated that inactivity can actually lead to complications during birth, as well as later on in life, PsychCentral reports.
In the new research, scientists included a number of women in their second trimester of pregnancy, and then assigned each test participant to an active group, or to a sedentary one. When all women had given birth, the team collected and analyzed the evidence.
“Given that exercise has been demonstrated to be beneficial for the adult’s brain, we hypothesized that it could also be beneficial for the unborn child through the mother’s actions,” explains UM researcher Dave Ellemberg, PhD, who led the investigation.
After birth, the babies' brain activity patterns were measured using external electrodes. Scientists then played a number of new sounds while the infants were sleeping, and noted a more mature cerebral activation pattern in babies born of women in the active group.
The finding suggests that brain development occurred more rapidly in this group. “We hope these results will guide public health interventions and research on brain plasticity,” Ellemberg says.
“Most of all, we are optimistic that this will encourage women to change their health habits, given that the simple act of exercising during pregnancy could make a difference for their child’s future,” the team leader adds.
“Being active can ease postpartum recovery, make pregnancy more comfortable and reduce the risk of obesity in the children,” he concludes. Details of the investigation were presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Neuroscience, called Neuroscience 2013.