Diagnostic Approaches to Assessing Physical Activity in Pregnancy: Monitoring Maternal Physiology and Birth Outcomes
A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Clinical Diagnosis and Prognosis".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editors
2. Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain
Interests: pre-eclampsia; pregnancy; obstetrics; gynecology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Pregnancy represents a critical window for the promotion of maternal and fetal health, and physical activity is increasingly recognized as a key modifiable factor in prenatal care. However, the accurate assessment of exercise interventions—including their type, intensity, and timing—requires advanced diagnostic tools to evaluate physiological adaptations, pregnancy progression, and birth outcomes.
This Diagnostics Special Issue invites original research, reviews, and methodological studies that explore innovative diagnostic approaches to monitoring the effects of physical activity during pregnancy. We seek contributions that integrate biomarkers, imaging, wearable technologies, and AI-driven analytics to enhance clinical evaluation and personalized care.
Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Diagnostic biomarkers of exercise adaptation (e.g., cardiovascular, metabolic, or inflammatory markers);
- Imaging advances in pelvic floor and musculoskeletal assessment (e.g., ultrasound, MRI);
- Wearable devices and digital monitoring for tracking maternal activity and fetal responses;
- Predictive models for pregnancy complications (e.g., gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia) using exercise-related data;
- Novel tools to evaluate labor progression, delivery outcomes, and perineal trauma in active pregnancies;
- Psychosocial and quality-of-life assessments linked to physical activity interventions;
- Disparities in diagnostic access and precision medicine approaches for prenatal care;
- Postpartum recovery diagnostics (e.g., pelvic floor dysfunction, long-term metabolic health);
- Methodological innovations in objective activity measurement (e.g., machine learning, sensor-based analytics);
We encourage submissions that bridge gaps between research, clinical practice, and technology-driven diagnostics to optimize maternal–fetal health outcomes.
Dr. María Mar Gil
Guest Editor
Dr. Aránzazu Martín-Arias
Guest Editor Assistant
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- diagnostics
- pregnancy
- maternal physiology and birth outcomes
- biomarkers
- prenatal care
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