Dr. Margie Davenport joins the faculty in 2013 from the University of Calgary. Her research focuses of the impacts of exercise on pregnant and post-partum women
Eating for two, not watching what you eat, putting your feet up and taking it easy are pregnancy myths Dr. Margie Davenport is rapidly laying to rest. In fact, her research has found that women who exercise and eat healthily during pregnancy have the best chance of having healthy babies - and with positive health impacts that last a lifetime for both mother and child.
"Exercise has been shown to help control weight gain during pregnancy, as well as preventing adverse vascular alterations that can occur and hopefully prevent chronic diseases during pregnancy," she says.
Davenport's doctoral research looked at the effects of various intensities of exercise on women including those who were normal weight before pregnancy and women who were overweight or obese before pregnancy. "We put them onto aerobic exercise interventions - both walking programs and moderate intensity exercise programs - to help them control their gestational weight gain. What we found was that a combination of exercise and good nutrition was very successful."
She also found that women who had developed gestational diabetes were able to greatly improve and control their blood sugar levels while participating in a low-intensity exercise program.
Controlling weight during and after pregnancy is important because women of child-bearing age can be at risk of developing chronic disease if they do not, according to Davenport. "Excessive weight gain during pregnancy has been associated with increased risk of developing conditions such as gestational diabetes, elevated blood pressure, preeclampsia (high blood pressure caused by high levels of protein in the urine starting anytime from the in the 20th week of pregnancy). While these do tend to resolve after pregnancy, women who experienced these conditions are at increased risk of developing overt diabetes and hypertension later in life," she says.
"More recently there has been animal and epidemiological evidence showing that pregnancy-related diseases are related to increased risk of the infant developing chronic disease later in life as well."
Davenport is interested in gaining a deeper understanding of the intergenerational transfer of chronic disease from the mother to the infant. "We know that adverse effects during pregnancy can transmit risk from the mother to the infant, and I believe that interventions such as exercise, improved nutrition or supplementation with vitamins or minerals may reduce this transmission and possibly have long term impacts on the health of both mother and child," she says.
Davenport, who joins the faculty early in January, 2013, says, "My studies will be cross-sectional in nature, looking specifically at the transmission of disease right at birth." While other studies have examined the health of the child as it grows, Davenport's research in unique in looking at the infant's health at the time of birth.
"I plan to do more interventional studies during exercise to see if exercise itself during pregnancy can either attenuate or reduce this risk and have beneficial effects on the long term health of the infant and the mother," says Davenport.
Her work on exercise in pregnant and post-partum women has already captured attention and has been included in the National and International Guidelines including the 2010 Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada Clinical Practice Guidelines for Obesity in Pregnancy and the 2012 Edition of the American College of Sports Medicine Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription.
"The basic research I do will also benefit pregnancy-related researchers, but in terms of the broader picture, I'm hopeful that my research with exercise interventions will help further develop guidelines for exercise during pregnancy.
"Most importantly I want mothers to know that if, during pregnancy, they're making healthy choices in terms of physical activity and nutrition, they are building a strong foundation for themselves and their babies throughout their lives," she says.
In addition to her research, Davenport, currently a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary, will be teaching. "I love to challenge students with new ideas and really get them involved in the classroom - particularly in the anatomy lab where I'll do much of my work."