The effects of maternal aerobic exercise on human placental development: placental volumetric composition and surface areas.

The histomorphometry of term placentae from women who exercised regularly throughout either the first half or all of pregnancy was compared to that of placentae from matched controls to determine if regular exercise during pregnancy produced histomorphometric evidence of altered development and transport capacity. Conventional stereological techniques were used to estimate placental volumetric composition, surface areas, and villous and vascular configurations in the three groups. Exercise confined to early pregnancy increased the parenchymal component of the placenta, total vascular volume and site-specific capillary volume and surface area. Exercise throughout pregnancy increased these and multiple other histomorphometric parameters associated with the rate of placental perfusion and transfer function. However, significant changes were confined to villi > 80 microns in diameter. The localization of both the timing of the stimulus and the anatomical sites affected indicates that regular, sustained exercise modifies placental development primarily in early and mid-pregnancy. We speculate that the lack of significant changes in the structure and configuration of the smaller villi indicates that other adaptive mechanisms, such as increased rates of placental blood flow, must be well developed by the latter portion of the mid-trimester and adequately maintain fetal oxygenation and substrate delivery throughout the third trimester.