# A Community Wellness Intervention

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2020 · $201,958

## Abstract

Almost half of women in the US gain weight during pregnancy in excess of recommendations.
Excessive gestational weight gain (EGWG) is associated with numerous deleterious maternal
and child outcomes. There is a clear need for interventions designed to reduce EGWG.
Prenatal physical activity is an attractive intervention strategy to reduce EGWG as it is also
associated with many health benefits. Unfortunately, nearly 80% of pregnant women in the US
are not meeting the current recommendations for prenatal physical activity (i.e. 150 minutes of
moderate-intensity activity per week). Knowledge and skill building need to be coupled with
strong motivation to increase the likelihood one will consistently engage in regular prenatal
physical activity. We suggest that of particular importance to instilling motivation to be active
prenatally is the interrelationship between physical activity and mood and sleep. The proposed
study will address this need by testing the feasibility of a theoretically-based (e.g., social
cognitive theory), peer-led wellness intervention, “My Baby My Move+” (MBMM+) to reduce
EGWG by targeting physical activity, mood, and sleep. The specific aims of the study are to 1)
Determine feasibility (i.e., acceptability and demand) of the MBMM+ program. Acceptability will
be measured using patients’ satisfaction with the MBMM+ program, perceived appropriateness
of the MBMM+ program (i.e., did the MBMM+ program increase patient knowledge, beliefs, and
skills related to safe and effective activity) and increased physical activity mediators (self-
efficacy, self-regulation, and social support). Demand will be measured using the number of
participants who engage in the MBMM+ program; and 2) Examine the impact of the MBMM+
program on EGWG at 12 weeks post-baseline to determine estimates of effect size for a future,
larger randomized trial. We will also explore the relationships among prenatal physical activity,
sleep, mood, and GWG to inform estimates of effect sizes for these secondary outcomes in the
future larger trial. In summary, we propose to develop and test a potentially feasible as well as
sustainable EGWG intervention to instill good healthy habits (e.g., prenatal physical activity,
good sleep hygiene, stress management) during and beyond pregnancy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9985155
- **Project number:** 5R21HD097450-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** JENN A LEIFERMAN
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $201,958
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9985155

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9985155, A Community Wellness Intervention (5R21HD097450-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9985155. Licensed CC0.

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