NEW ORLEANS, Apr 17, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- U.S. researchers say exercising
mothers-to-be may be helping fetal development of their baby.
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences' Stephanie Million and Linda
May along with Kathleen Gustafson of the University of Kansas Medical Center in
Kansas City, Kansas, used a biomagnetometer, to measure maternal and fetal
magnetocardiograms as well as fetal movements.
They recorded the physiology of the developing fetus in a group of mothers
involved in a moderate intensity aerobic 30-minutes-three-times-a-week exercise
program and a group of mothers with no regular exercise routine.
The researchers found fetal heart rates significantly lower and the variability
of heart rates during fetal breathing and non-breathing movement periods higher
in the mothers who exercised. The fetal measures having to do with the nerve
responsible for heart rate, peristalsis and muscle movements in the mouth also
were higher during breathing movements in the fetuses of exercising mothers.
"These findings suggest a potential benefit of maternal exercise on fetal
development because of the link between fetal breathing movements and the
developing autonomic nervous system," May and Gustafson said in a statement.
The findings are scheduled to present their findings at the 122nd annual meeting
of The American Physiological Society, part of the Experimental Biology 2009
conference, in New Orleans.
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