Evaluation of an educational campaign to support pregnant women and new mothers in enjoying and benefitting from an active lifestyle.

This project focused on reaching pregnant women and new mums to reaffirm it is safe to exercise during and after pregnancy through support and signposting from healthcare professionals. This was done through widely disseminating CMO guidelines for pregnancy, upskilling health and leisure professionals, and working with key stakeholders and local activity providers to develop a tool kit and launch the campaign. spear’s evaluation involved a mixed methods design involving focus groups, interviews and surveys of pregnant women, new mums and healthcare professionals.

Key Findings

• Data suggested for many women, based on symptoms associated with pregnancy, activity levels may be reduced in the first trimester, increased in the second and reduced in the third trimester. This may highlight the second trimester as a valuable timepoint to promote and encourage physical activity
• Pregnant women and new mums demonstrated an interest in activities they could take part in with other pregnant women and new mums. Pregnant women preferred to exercise in the company of other people. New mums also highlighted a desire to be active with their babies, or to access convenient childcare to facilitate their activity levels
• Despite relatively infrequent reports of conversations about physical activity with healthcare professionals, awareness and support of the Chief Medical Officer’s guidelines among both healthcare professionals and pregnant women and new mums was very high. Within healthcare professionals, this indicated good effectiveness of training and within pregnant women and new mums, some consistency in information provided by the sources they access
• In general, many women did not feel they regularly saw other pregnant women or new mums being active. This highlighted the importance of This Mum Moves in showcasing the current landscape around physical activity engagement
• Data collected from healthcare professionals has highlighted both a need and existing motivation to access up-to-date, evidence-based information about physical activity during pregnancy

“We have a great opportunity to give women information and resources on how they can keep active and the benefits during pregnancy and postnatally. We often establish a good rapport during early pregnancy and have a working relationship throughout and postnatally. In our area of the community, we aim to provide continuity so women feel trust in our care and I feel they would definitely take this information on board.” – Midwife, Cambridgeshire

Date: 2018 – 2021

Client: UK Active and Sport England