Page 92 - Pro-active Management of Women’s Health after Cardiometabolic Complicated Pregnancies

90 | Part 3 Lifestyle intervention
intrauterine growth restriction, and/or gestational diabetes is considered to be a window of opportunity for preventive interventions, no studies were identified which have specifically examined the effects of postpartum lifestyle interventions among women with such complications. Whether the interventions aimed at general populations of postpartum women identified in our present study will also be effective in women who have experienced complicated pregnancies should be the subject of further research. Awaiting the results of such future studies, utilization of lifestyle interventions that have been shown to be effective in postpartum women in general should be considered for use in women who have experienced complicated pregnancies.
Specifically, the current review suggests that individually tailored postpartum weight loss interventions with both a diet and an exercise component might be used, since 5 out of the 6 interventions included in this review were effective. Group sessions, correspondence materials, telephone contact, food diaries, or individual counseling sessions may be effective in improving postpartum diet. Self-supervised exercise sessions, an aerobic exercise program, an individualized activity plan, correspondence materials, telephone contact, activity diaries, and counseling sessions could be used to promote postpartum physical activity. Home visits, face-to-face counseling, and telephone counseling, might be used to promote postpartum smoking cessation and prevent smoking relapse.
Furthermore, the results of this literature study suggest that a theoretical background can be used to develop postpartum lifestyle interventions. For example, the theoretical models of Laitakari and Asikainen173, Precede- Proceed174, and Stages of Change175 might be used in the development of weight loss interventions. Smoking cessation and smoking relapse prevention interventions could be based on the principles of motivational interviewing (49),