DESCRIPTIVE LITERATURE REVIEW: AEROBIC PHYSICAL EXERCISES ON THE QUALITY OF LIFE AND PHYSICAL DISCOMFORT IN PREGNANT WOMEN (Atena Editora)

Abstract

Pregnancy is a period characterized by intense morphological adaptations that have a great impact on health (Silva et al., 2017; Colla et al., 2017). Exercise in healthy pregnancy (for example: without contraindications) is considered beneficial and must be encouraged for all women (Shiri et al., 2018). The objective of the present study was to gather information about the effects of performing aerobic physical exercise programs on quality of life and physical discomfort in pregnant women. For this, a comprehensive descriptive review of the literature was carried out (August/2020), in the Pubmed and Pedro databases (Physiotherapy Evidence Database), with the following keywords in the English language: “exercise”, “exercise therapy”, “pregnancy”, “pregnant women” and “quality of life”. Of the 16 articles found, 2 were included in this review, and 14 of them were excluded because they did not address the topic of aerobic exercises during pregnancy or did not yet meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A table was then prepared with the two articles included, which contained information such as: name and year of the articles, number of volunteers, evaluated parameters, evaluation tool, protocol duration, training frequency, exercise intensity, study groups and conclusion. Based only on the studies included in this review, we can conclude that the aerobic exercise protocols performed were able to improve the quality of life and reduce musculoskeletal discomfort in pregnant women. Thus, exemplifying some of the benefits that exercise can provide to these women.