Effect of Pilates exercises on postpartum maternal fatigue

INTRODUCTION Postpartum fatigue is a pervasive phenomenon and often affects mothers immediately after delivery. The present study aimed to assess the effect Pilates home exercises had on postpartum maternal fatigue. METHODS A total of 80 women participated in our clinical trial study. The women were randomly divided into two groups - the intervention group (n = 40) and the control group (n = 40). In the intervention group, the women performed Pilates exercises five times a week (30 min per session) for eight consecutive weeks. The first session was conducted 72 hours after delivery. The control group did not receive any intervention. Each woman's level of fatigue was evaluated at hospital discharge (as a baseline), and at four and eight weeks after delivery, using the standard Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory (MFI-20) questionnaire and repeated measures analysis. RESULTS During the eight weeks of follow-up, we found that the intervention group had lower mean MFI-20 scores than the control group with regard to general fatigue (7.80 +/- 2.07 vs. 12.72 +/- 1.79; p < 0.001), physical fatigue (7.12 +/- 1.41 vs. 10.42 +/- 2.02; p < 0.001), reduced activity (6.95 +/- 1.35 vs. 11.27 +/- 1.70; p < 0.001), reduced motivation (6.20 +/- 1.01 vs. 9.80 +/- 2.04; p < 0.001) and mental fatigue (6.85 +/- 1.45 vs. 10.72 +/- 1.98; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION The present study's findings show that physical exercise can significantly reduce postpartum maternal fatigue in all subscales.