The effect of Pilates exercise during pregnancy on delivery outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted to investigate the effectiveness of the Pilates exercise program during pregnancy on different delivery outcomes. Various databases were searched from inception until November 2022. The included studies compared Pilates exercise to routine antenatal care in pregnant women. The primary outcomes assessed were vaginal and cesarean delivery rates, as well as labor duration. Secondary outcomes included episiotomy incidence, Apgar scores, and epidural analgesia. Seven studies met the inclusion criteria, involving a total of 1,003 patients. Results indicated a significant increase in the vaginal delivery rate among the Pilates exercise group compared to the control group (p < .001). Moreover, the Pilates exercise group exhibited significantly reduced rates of cesarean delivery and shorter labor duration. Pilates exercise was associated with a significant decline in the incidence of episiotomy and the number of women requiring epidural analgesia during delivery (p < .001 & p = .008). In addition, Apgar scores at one and five minutes were significantly higher in the Pilates exercise group compared to the control group (p < .001). In conclusion, Pilates exercise during pregnancy has a positive effect on maternal outcomes and Apgar scores. However, more trials are needed to confirm these findings.

KEYWORDS:

• Delivery
• Pilates
• Pilates exercise
• Pilates method
• pregnancy

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

All the extracted data are available in the figures and supplementary materials.

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/03630242.2024.2304893

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.