SynthesisArchives of women's mental health2025
Prenatal exercise and its effects on postpartum mental health: systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Archives of women's mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Multidimensional psychological and neurophysiological effects of moderate- and low-intensity exercise on pregnant women: an integrative systematic review and Bayesian framework network meta-analysis.Archives of women's mental health · 2026Pooled it
- Optimal dose of aerobic exercise for improving postpartum depression, anxiety, and quality of life: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and dose-response analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of Exercise Dose-Response on Maternal Mental Health and Perinatal Depression Prevention: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of public health · 2025Pooled it
- Mapping postpartum physical activity, sedentary time, and sleep: assessing the impact of prenatal physical activity interventions in the FitMum randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Physical activity and perinatal depression and anxiety: a global umbrella review and meta-meta-analysis.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- The Impact of Outdoor Physical Activities on the Health of Pregnant Women: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The effect of yoga on birth outcomes of Chinese pregnancies with preeclampsia.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Scoping review of preventive interventions for postpartum depression to inform policy and planning.Discover mental health · 2026Review
- The Role of "Metabolic Instability" as a New Risk Criterion in the Pathogenesis of Endometrial Cancer.Cancers · 2025Review
- Use of a Nonimmersive Virtual Reality System for Clinical Thinking in Obstetric Nursing Education: Mixed Methods Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Article
- Associations among mental well-being, marital quality, and maternal depressive symptoms in China: a cross - sectional study and mediated analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- An update comprehensive review on the effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for postnatal physical and psychological disorders.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe perinatal period, spanning from pregnancy through the first year after childbirth, is characterized by significant physiological, psychological, and socio-contextual changes. Women face complex stressors including psychosocial pressures, financial constraints, interpersonal dynamics, anticipatory stress related to parenthood, hormonal fluctuations, and societal expectations. These factors collectively influence the perinatal experience, increasing vulnerabilities and stress levels.
methodsA systematic review was conducted in October 2023 using PubMed, SPORTDiscus, PsycInfo, and Scopus databases. Only English-language publications were included. For the meta-analysis, only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) were considered. Data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers using Covidence, focusing on study characteristics, population demographics, interventions, and outcomes.
resultsThe initial search identified 2,373 articles, with 1,196 duplicates removed, leaving 1,177 articles. After screening titles and abstracts, 1,247 were excluded for not meeting the inclusion criteria, resulting in 30 full-text articles reviewed for eligibility by two researchers. Nineteen studies were included in the systematic review, with four in the meta-analysis. Results indicated that higher levels of physical activity during pregnancy were consistently associated with improved postpartum mental health outcomes, including reduced depressive symptoms, lower anxiety, and enhanced overall well-being. Low-intensity exercises, such as yoga, were particularly effective in reducing postpartum depressive symptoms. The impact of moderate-intensity exercise varied, with some studies showing no significant effects. The meta-analysis of four RCTs using the EPDS demonstrated a significant reduction in depression and anxiety symptoms among postpartum women who participated in physical activity interventions, with a substantial overall effect size.
conclusionDeveloping physical activity and exercise regimens encompassing a range of intensities can address the unique physiological and psychological demands of the perinatal period, maximizing the therapeutic benefits of physical activity interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.