Know What's Happening in Motherhood

Maternal Physical Activity Linked to Child Neurodevelopment

A JAMA Network Open cohort study of 38,219 mother‑child pairs found that higher maternal physical activity before and during pregnancy is linked to better early neurodevelopmental outcomes. Pre‑pregnancy activity raised the odds of higher scores across all ASQ‑3 domains at six months, while mid‑pregnancy activity specifically boosted gross motor, fine motor, and problem‑solving scores. The benefit persisted for problem‑solving at three years only with pre‑pregnancy activity, and no other domains showed improvement at that age. Researchers suggest prenatal exercise may be a modifiable factor for early brain health.