INTRODUCTION:

Pregnancy is one of the most precious, unforgettable and special experience in each mother’s life.¹ Women suddenly realize the power of being a woman being able to make a human out of her body. Being a special time, the women need to take extra care of her body, as every action of her will have impact on her body.²

Antenatal care refers to the range of services provided to expectant mothers up until the time of delivery. It includes like nutrition, immunization, rest and sleep, personal hygiene and exercise.³ The antenatal care helps to prevent defects and complications during pregnancy at the earliest. A proper antenatal care should ensure the health of both a baby and the health of the mother until the time of delivery. Prenatal care helps to reduce maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality through early identification and treatment of pregnancy related complications.⁴ Antenatal exercise is one of the major and important component of health promotion and prevention of pregnancy related issues during pregnancy.⁵ It has numerous physical and psychological benefits.⁶

As the uterus expands, the mother may feel aches and pains in the back, abdomen, groin area, and thighs. Many women also have backaches and aching near the pelvic bone due the pressure of the baby's head, increased weight, and loosening joints. Antenatal exercise reduces blood pressure, improves overall fitness, cardio vascular health, increase muscle performance, and protects from gestation diabetic mellitus. Exercise prior to pregnancy might also lessen the discomfort associated with physiological changes that occur during pregnancy, including digestive problems, insomnia, anxiety and depression. Antenatal exercise has positive impact on both mother and foetus health. Regular exercise during pregnancy helps to prevent excessive weight gain and reduces the prevalence of obesity and Moderate-intensity aerobic physical exercise on a regular basis even seems to promote favourable long-term hemodynamic adaptation in mothers.⁶During pregnancy the specific discomforts can be relieved by doing regular antenatal exercises.³

Many women have lack of knowledge regarding the benefits of exercise during pregnancy. Most of the women are not sure about the safe and appropriate method of doing exercise. The world-wide incident rate of minor disorders during pregnancy is about 1,410,000 about 50 million of women are affect minor disorders in India.⁷ The most common complaint during pregnancy is low back pain as the mother gains weight and increased pressure on joints and the spine which has been reported between 50% and 80% of pregnant women. Strengthening abdominal and back muscle through exercise can mitigate the pain and strengthens the muscle.⁸

The world health organization and American college of obstetrics and gynecology (ACOG) recommended a woman should practice antenatal exercise 30 min per day or moderate aerobic exercise for at least 150 min per week; to get control of changes during first trimester, aim at refining the physiological wellbeing of the mother⁹. Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services endorse earlier advice to engage in moderate-intensity aerobic activity during pregnancy and throughout the postnatal period¹⁰unless there are obstetric or medical contraindications. Being physically active is linked to lower the risk of gestational diabetes mellitus, pre-eclampsia and preterm birth, which is a significant step in preventing both pregnancy and labour related problems.¹¹

Antenatal exercise has a protective effect against pregnancy-induced hypertension by influencing the patho-genetic mechanisms and acting on associated risk factors. Adequate nutrition and physical activity levels also influence modifiable risk variables associated with GDM. Furthermore, it is advisable for women with an elevated BMI to maintain a balanced diet during the antenatal period as well as maintain a good level of physical activity. Studies have demonstrated minimum to moderate increases in fetal heart rate by 10–30 beats per minute over the baseline during or after exercise. Pregnant women should be encouraged by their health care professionals to lead lives that are more active.¹²So the researcher aimed to do a study on the particular topic regarding knowledge on antenatal exercise.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A study to evaluate the effectiveness of video assisted teaching module on knowledge regarding antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers in selected maternity hospitals Kuppam.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

· To assess the pre-test knowledge scores regarding antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers.

· To implement video-assisted teaching programme.

· To assess the posttest knowledge regarding antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers.

· To evaluate the effectiveness of video assisted teaching programme regarding antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers.

· To find out the association between pre-test knowledge score on antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers with their selected socio demographic variables.

HYPOTHESIS:

H1: There will be a significant association between the pre-test knowledge score and their demographic variables.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Research approach and design:

Pre experimental research design with evaluative approach used to conduct the study.

Setting of the study:

The study conducted in selected maternity hospitals at Kuppam, Chittoor district, A.P.

Sample and sampling technique:

60 antenatal mothers were selected by non-probability sampling method. All the antenatal mothers who attended OPD during the time of data collection were included for the study.

Instruments:

It consists of Part 1-Proforma of demographic variables.

Part2-Questionnaire to assess the knowledge of antenatal mothers regarding antenatal exercises (15 items).

Data collection:

Oral and written informed consent was obtained prior to data collection. Based on literature review, the questionnaire was constructed to obtain socio-demographic data and response on knowledge regarding antenatal exercise. At the baseline questionnaire was administered by interview method to collect the data. Followed by pre-test video-assisted teaching module was administered to the mothers by explaining the importance and benefits of each exercise. Post-test knowledge was assessed after 4 weeks of intervention.

RESULTS:

Demographic Profile:

· Majority of the mothers (66.7%)) were in the age group of 20-25yrs, majority of the sample (60%) were completed their primary education, 53.3% were in their second trimester and 96.7% of mothers are not having a habit of doing antenatal exercise.

· In the pre-test knowledge score, only 60% of mothers had moderate knowledge and 40% had inadequate knowledge regarding antenatal exercise. No one had adequate knowledge on antenatal exercise.

· In the post-test assessment after intervention, 60% of the mothers had adequate knowledge, 36.7% showed moderate knowledge and only 3.3% showed inadequate knowledge regarding antenatal exercise.

· The mean value off knowledge in pre-test was 9.1 and the post-test mean value was 16.9, which showed the effectiveness of video-assisted teaching module of antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers.

Association between pre-test knowledge score on antenatal exercise among pregnant mothers with their selected socio demographic variables.

· Only their educational status shows the association in the pre-test knowledge score and the other variables like age, religion, diet, trimester, obstetrical score and habit of doing exercise has no association with their knowledge level.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· The study can be done to assess the post-natal exercise among postnatal mothers.

· The study can be replicated on a larger population.

· A comparative study can be conducted between rural and urban settings.

IMPLICATIONS:

The finding of the study can be implicated in nursing education, nursing practice and nursing research:

Nursing Services:

· The findings of the study will help the nursing personnel to plan the nursing care and health education for pregnant mother.

· Mass health education can be given by demonstrating antenatal exercises.

· The findings of the study will help the nursing professional working in the community to gain the knowledge and focus on health education.

Nursing Education:

· Nursing student can utilize the findings to educate the antenatal mother and their family members on the importance and benefits of antenatal exercise.

· The findings will help the nursing faculty to give more importance for planning and organizing the planned teaching programme to improve the knowledge regarding antenatal exercise.

Nursing Administration:

· Professional interaction between the nurses and the public will help to improve professional standards and creates better image in the community.

· Specialized teaching package in specific topic create interest among public and serves as reference material.

Nursing Research:

· The study helps the investigator to develop insight regarding the importance of antenatal exercise for healthy and happy pregnancy.

· This study will serve as a valuable reference material for future investigators.

· In-depth research studies can be conducted by including all the three domains i.e. knowledge, attitude and practice.

· Large scale studies can be conducted.

CONCLUSION:

The findings of the study concluded that there is a significant improvement in the knowledge level after video assisted teaching programme. So, teaching strategy is an effective educational intervention in improving knowledge regarding antenatal exercise.

Fig 1: Distribution of study subjects according to Age

Fig 2: Distribution of study subjects according to Education

Fig 3: Distribution of study subjects according to trimester

Table- 1: Comparison of Pre-test and Post-test scores of Knowledges according to study subjects

Knowledge	Knowledge		t - value	p- value
	Mean	SD
Pre-test	9.1	3.3	10.8657	<0.0001*
Post-test	16.9	3.2

P<0.05* Statistically significant

REFERENCES:

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10. U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Physical activity guidelines for Antenatal mothers. 2^nd edition. 2018; Available at https://health.gov/paguidelines/second-edition/

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12. Taliento C, Piccolotti I, Sabattini A, Tormen M, Cappadona R, Greco P, Scutiero G. Effect of Physical Activity during Pregnancy on the Risk of Hypertension Disorders and Gestational Diabetes: Evidence Generated by New RCTs and Systematic Reviews. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2024; 13(8): 2198. https://doi.org/10.33

Received on 06.11.2024 Revised on 10.02.2025

Accepted on 15.04.2025 Published on 17.05.2025

Available online from May 20, 2025

Int. J. Nursing Education and Research. 2025;13(2):77-80.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2660.2025.00016

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Creative Commons License.