Clinical Abstracts
With Comments by Adriane Fugh-Berman, MD
Water Aerobics and Pregnancy-Related Edema
March 2000; Volume 2: 23
Source: Kent T, et al. Edema of pregnancy: A comparison of water aerobics and static immersion. Obstet Gynecol 1999;94; 726-729.
Design/Setting/Subjects: Eighteen healthy women (17 primiparous) under 36 years of age, between 20 and 33 weeks gestation, were recruited from prenatal water aerobics classes. None of the subjects in this study had edema.
Treatment/Dose/Duration: Each subject was studied while standing on land, immersed (to the axillae) in heated pool, and participating in water aerobics class, each for 30 minutes (the mean air temperature in the pool area was 30.6º C and in the water 31.5º C, about bathtub temperature). Each subject was evaluated on three separate occasions at least 48 hours apart. On testing days, subjects emptied the bladder about one hour before arriving at the pool, and were asked to drink 8 oz water immediately prior to beginning the test session.
Outcome Measures: Urine volume, specific gravity of urine, heart rate and blood pressure, weight and leg volume were measured.
Results: There was no significant difference in diuresis from water aerobics or static immersion; both water aerobics (187 ml) and static immersion (180 ml) resulted in significantly greater diuresis than standing 30 minutes on land (65 ml). Standing on land for 30 minutes resulted in a significant increase in leg volume compared with water aerobics or static immersion. The specific gravities of urine collected after water aerobics or immersion were similar to each other but significantly less than after standing. There were no significant differences among groups in blood pressure.
Funding: Not stated.
Comments: Treatments for leg edema in pregnancy were reviewed in Alternative Therapies in Women’s Health (September 1999, pp. 73-75). This recent study shows that water aerobics or simply standing in a heated pool both resulted in significant diuresis. There was no advantage to exercising in water in this study; simply being upright in water appeared to be a beneficial treatment. It should be kept in mind that none of the women in this study were actually suffering pregnancy-induced edema; it would be interesting to see if results were different in a group actually suffering from edema.
A previous study of pregnant women (by the same investigators) compared bed rest, waist-deep immersion in a bathtub, and shoulder-deep immersion in a specially constructed immersion tank that allowed legs to be extended downward. Shoulder-deep immersion resulted in greater diuresis than either immersion in a bathtub or bed rest. Water aerobics is certainly an ideal exercise for women in the latter half of pregnancy, but it may be a relief to some women that swelling may be relieved simply by standing around in a heated pool.
March 2000; Volume 2: 23
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