Neonatal behavioral profile of the offspring of women who continued to exercise regularly throughout pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that conti nuing regular exercise throughout pregnancy alters early neonatal behavior. STUDY DESIGN: The offspring of 34 women who exercised were compared with th ose of 31 demographically similar control subjects. All women had normal an tenatal courses. Behavior was assessed at 5 days after birth with the Braze lton Scales. RESULTS: The offspring of the exercising women performed better in 2 of the 6 behavioral constellations when examined at 5 days after birth. The score s reflecting their ability to orient to environmental stimuli were (mean +/ - SEM) 7.6 +/- 0.1 and 6.5 +/- 0.3, respectively, and the scores reflecting their ability to regulate their state or quiet themselves after sound and light stimuli were 6.6 +/- 0.2 and 4.9 +/- 0.3, respectively. The scores re flecting habituation (7.9 +/- 0.2 and 8.0 +/- 0.1, respectively), motor org anization (5.7 +/- 0.1 and 5.5 +/- 0.1, respectively), autonomic stability (5.9 +/- 0.2 and 5.5 +/- 0.3, respectively), and behavioral state range (4. 1 +/- 0.2 and 4.5 +/- 0.3, respectively) were not significantly different. CONCLUSIONS: These data indicate that the neonates born of exercising mothe rs have a different neurobehavioral profile as early as the fifth day after birth.