A Theoretical Approach to Improving Physical Activity During Pregnancy with Co-Participation and the Application of Social Support Theory

Despite the many benefits for both the mother and fetus of physical activity during pregnancy, only 12.7–37.8% of pregnant persons in the United States achieve the recommended 150 min of moderate-intensity physical activity per week. While many variables influence physical activity participation during pregnancy, social support has been associated with physical activity participation in various populations. Originally used in the study of criminology, the social support theory has been applied in recent evidence as a method of promoting physical activity and other healthy behaviors. Recent literature suggests that social support and co-participation are interpersonal facilitators of participation in physical activity. Therefore, we propose an integrated model through a combination of social support and co-participation in physical activity to increase physical activity during pregnancy: the SsCo-PAP Model. The practical advantage of this combination is that both social support and co-participation emphasize social connectedness to facilitate physical activity. We recommend that the model be utilized by clinicians to educate, encourage, and support their patients to be physically active during their pregnancy. Future research should analyze the feasibility and effectiveness of using the SsCo-PAP Model in clinical practice.