Effect of recreational exercise on midtrimester placental growth

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of our study was to test the hypothesis that regular recreational exercise increases the rate of growth in placental volume in the midtrimester of human pregnancy.

Study design: Serial measurements of placental volume were obtained between the fourteenth and twenty-sixth gestational week in 18 subjects who exercised regularly throughout the midtrimester and in 16 matched controls with an ultrasonographic system equipped with a fixed-base, articulated-arm, 3.5 MHz B-mode transducer.

Results: Placental volumes were significantly greater in the women who maintained a regular exercise regimen throughout the midtrimester. At 16 weeks (mean +/- SD) volumes were 141 +/- 34 cm3 and 106 +/- 18 cm3 in the two groups. This difference increased at 20 weeks (265 +/- 67 cm3 vs 186 +/- 46 cm3) and again at 24 (410 +/- 87 cm3 vs 270 +/- 58 cm3) weeks' gestation because of a significant between-group difference in the rate of growth in placental volume over this time interval (34 +/- 8 cm3/wk vs 21 +/- cm3/wk).

Conclusion: We conclude that the hypothesis is correct and speculate that the change in growth rate represents an adaptive response to the intermittent stimulus of a reduction in regional blood flow.