Pregnant and postpartum women's perceptions of barriers and enablers to physical activity during pregnancy: a qualitative systematic review protocol.

Abstract

Background: Moderate physical activity throughout pregnancy has been shown to have many health benefits for the mother, including reductions in the risk of preeclampsia and gestational weight gain, as well as improvements in blood pressure regulation. Despite the health benefits, it has been shown that many pregnant women do not meet the current guidelines for physical activity throughout pregnancy. Therefore, it is important to determine what influences pregnant women’s physical activity levels during pregnancy. This qualitative systematic review will aim to determine pregnant and postpartum women’s perceptions of barriers and enablers to physical activity during pregnancy. Methods: MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINHAL, and EMBASE will be searched systematically to identify qualitative studies investigating pregnant and/or postpartum women’s perceptions of barriers and facilitators to physical activity during pregnancy. Included studies will be limited to populations of pregnant and/or postpartum women between the ages of 18 and 40 years old (inclusive), that have been published from 1985 onward. Two reviewers will independently screen and select references that will be critically appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. Extracted data will be mapped on the COM-B framework and synthesized using a meta-aggregative approach. Discussion: We aim to provide information on pregnant and postpartum women’s perceptions of barriers and enablers to physical activity during pregnancy, which may assist clinicians in developing more appropriate physical activity interventions and providing counselling.