According to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, stretching exercises while pregnant could be more effective at reducing the risk of pre-eclampsia than walking is for pregnant women who already had pre-eclampsia in previous pregnancy and for those who do not follow a workout routine.

SeonAe Yeo, Ph.D., an associate professor with a specialty in women's health at the UNC School of Nursing and the study's lead researcher, said:

"The finding is contrary to existing studies and literature that suggest that rigorous exercise is the most effective way to reduce the risk of preeclampsia.

These results seemingly contradict the conventional wisdom that walking is the best protection pregnant women have against developing preeclampsia.

But for women who were not physically active before becoming pregnant and who have experienced preeclampsia with a previous pregnancy, that might not be the case."

The above findings were presented at the May 29 at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, Indiana and to be published in the in the spring issue of the journal Hypertension in Pregnancy.

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