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Diagnostics
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Diagnostic Approaches to Assessing Physical Activity in Pregnancy: Monitoring Maternal...
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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 204

Special Issue Editors

Dr. María Mar Gil

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Obstetrics and Gynecology Department, Hospital Universitario de Torrejón, Madrid, Spain
2. Faculty of Medicine, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcon, Spain
Interests: pre-eclampsia; pregnancy; obstetrics; gynecology
Dr. Aránzazu Martín-Arias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor Assistant
Obstetrics Department, Hospital Universitario de Torrejon, 28850 Madrid, Spain
Interests: obstetrics and 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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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 2016 KiB  
Article
Pelvic Floor Adaptation to a Prenatal Exercise Program: Does It Affect Labor Outcomes or Levator Ani Muscle Injury? A Randomized Controlled Trial
by Aránzazu Martín-Arias, Irene Fernández-Buhigas, Daniel Martínez-Campo, Adriana Aquise Pino, Valeria Rolle, Miguel Sánchez-Polan, Cristina Silva-Jose, Maria M. Gil and Belén Santacruz
Diagnostics 2025, 15(15), 1853; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15151853 - 23 Jul 2025
Viewed by 124
Abstract
Background: Physical exercise during pregnancy is strongly recommended due to its well-established benefits for both mother and child. However, its impact on the pelvic floor remains insufficiently studied. This study aimed to evaluate pelvic floor adaptations to a structured prenatal exercise program using [...] Read more.
Background: Physical exercise during pregnancy is strongly recommended due to its well-established benefits for both mother and child. However, its impact on the pelvic floor remains insufficiently studied. This study aimed to evaluate pelvic floor adaptations to a structured prenatal exercise program using transperineal ultrasound, and to assess associations with the duration of the second stage of labor and mode of delivery. Methods: This is a planned secondary analysis of a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) (NCT04563065) including women with singleton pregnancies at 12–14 weeks of gestation. Participants were randomized to either an exercise group, which followed a supervised physical exercise program three times per week, or a control group, which received standard antenatal care. Transperineal ultrasound was used at the second trimester of pregnancy and six months postpartum to measure urogenital hiatus dimensions at rest, during maximal pelvic floor contraction, and during the Valsalva maneuver, to calculate hiatal contractility and distensibility and to evaluate levator ani muscle insertion. Regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between urogenital hiatus measurements and both duration of the second stage of labor and mode of delivery. Results: A total of 78 participants were included in the final analysis: 41 in the control group and 37 in the exercise group. The anteroposterior diameter of the urogenital hiatus at rest was significantly smaller in the exercise group compared to controls (4.60 mm [SD 0.62] vs. 4.91 mm [SD 0.76]; p = 0.049). No other statistically significant differences were observed in static measurements. However, contractility was significantly reduced in the exercise group for both the latero-lateral diameter (8.54% vs. 4.04%; p = 0.012) and hiatus area (20.15% vs. 12.55%; p = 0.020). Distensibility was similar between groups. There were no significant differences in the duration of the second stage of labor or mode of delivery. Six months after delivery, there was an absolute risk reduction of 32.5% of levator ani muscle avulsion in the exercise group compared to the control group (53.3% and 20.8%, respectively; p = 0.009). Conclusions: A supervised exercise program during pregnancy appears to modify pelvic floor morphology and function, reducing the incidence of levator ani muscle avulsion without affecting the type or duration of delivery. These findings support the safety and potential protective role of prenatal exercise in maintaining pelvic floor integrity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostic Approaches to Assessing Physical Activity in Pregnancy: Monitoring Maternal Physiology and Birth Outcomes)
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