Grant: Project Grant

Exercise is well-known to improve our health and lower the risk of diseases, even during pregnancy. Despite having studied how different diseases affect the health of both the pregnant person and the baby, the positive effects of exercise on the communication between the pregnant person and the baby are often overlooked. Regular exercise changes how our bodies work and has great benefits for the health of the developing baby. The "microbiome" (a collection of tiny organisms living in our bodies) and the "metabolome" (small molecules produced during metabolism) of the pregnant person can greatly affect the growth and health of the baby and the placenta, the organ connecting the baby and the pregnant person. New research shows that these parts of our body communicate with each other, and this is an exciting area of exploration. However, we still don't fully understand how these changes happen. We believe that exercising during pregnancy brings benefits to both the pregnant person and their baby by changing the microbiome and metabolome, which in turn affects how the placenta and the rest of the body work. Our goals are: Aim 1: to compare the fecal microbiome of pregnant people who exercise with those who don't, as well as in their babies. Aim 2: to look at the molecules in the blood of pregnant people and their placental tissue to see if exercising affects these molecules work. Aim 3: to connect our exercise, microbiome, and metabolome data to a registry of birth outcomes and health records to understand how these factors influence the long-term health of the pregnant person and the child. This research is important because we know that exercise is good for us, but we need to understand exactly how it benefits both the pregnant person and the baby. We believe that this study will provide us with a deeper understanding of how exercise can improve the health of both current and future generations.