Views on Exercise Among Black Women During Pregnancy

Abstract

Objective: To describe and understand exercise practices, beliefs about exercise, support for exercise, barriers to exercise, and preferences for a group exercise program in the context of individual and environmental factors among Black women during pregnancy.

Design: Mixed-methods design.

Setting: Large university-affiliated urban midwifery practice.

Participants: Fourteen Black women who were pregnant.

Methods: We conducted semistructured interviews to determine participants' exercise practices, beliefs about exercise while pregnant, exercise support and barriers, and preferences for a group pregnancy exercise program. Participants also completed self-report measures for exercise, neighborhood environment, symptoms of depression, and sociodemographic characteristics. We used matrices to facilitate integrated analysis of the interview and self-report data to determine areas of concordance and discordance among the data sources and to note patterns in the data.

Results: We identified and described themes that represented concepts in our data: Exercise Misinformation and Folklore, Supportfor Exercise While Pregnant, Barriers to Exercise While Pregnant, Perceived Health Benefits, and Exercise Program Preferences. Data diverged for some participants on neighborhood as a barrier to exercise. Except for the two participants with high levels of symptoms of depression, data converged regarding symptoms of depression as a barrier to exercise.

Conclusion: Health care providers can successfully promote exercise if they provide education about exercise during pregnancy, help pregnant women overcome barriers to exercise, prompt women to exercise with partners for tangible and social support while pregnant, and refer women to exercise programs for pregnant women if available.

Keywords: African American; exercise; health education; neighborhood; physical activity; pregnant women.