Influence of Physical Exercise Interventions during Pregnancy on Natural Childbirth: a Meta-analysis

Background Natural childbirth is a normal physiological approach of human reproduction, while in China, the cesarean section rate has exceeded the upper limit recommended by the WHO by more than two times. As a nonpharmaceutical intervention facilitating natural childbirth, physical exercise should be valued by relevant departments. Objective To perform a meta-analysis of studies regarding effects of physical exercise interventions on promoting natural childbirth probability, and to attempt to recommend a better exercise scheme. Methods Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about the effect of intrapregancy physical exercise versus routine care (health duration or irregular physical exercise) improving the probability of natural childbirth published between 1990 and 2021 were searched in databases of CNKI, SinoMed, CQVIP, PubMed, EMBase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library. Meanwhile, the references of systematic reviews on relevant RCTs were also searched and reviewed. Data extraction and methodological quali