Background: Hypertension in pregnancy is one of the prevalent disorder resulting in maternal death. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of stretching exercise and walking on changes of blood pressure in nulliparous women during pregnancy.
Materials and methods: This was a quasi-experimental trial that consisted three groups of women who took part in pre- and post-tests. We used a simple randomized sample, including 118 pregnant females (walking: 29 subjects, stretching exercise: 30 subjects control: 59 subjects). The data were collected using the demographic checklist and blood pressure was measured every week. SPSS 16 was used to analyze the data by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and repeated measure ANOVA.
Results: No significant difference was found in the demographic characteristics of the three groups of women. Mean systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the three groups (stretching exercises, walking, and routine care) at three intervals (pre-test, first post-test, and second post-test) were significantly different (P < 0.05). In this case, Tukey's test showed significant improvement of systolic and diastolic blood pressure in stretching exercise group. Walking and control groups showed no change or significant reduction (P < 0.05). No significant difference was found between the walking and control groups (P > 0.05).
Conclusions: The results of the study showed that stretching exercise versus walking reduces systolic and diastolic blood pressure in the second trimester of pregnancy and controls it in the third trimester of pregnancy. In contrast, walking has no effect on blood pressure during pregnancy.
Keywords: Blood pressure; stretching exercise; walking.