Inaugural PAA Research Grant

Inaugural PAA Research Grant awarded to PAA member, Melissa Mazzarino

The PAA is pleased to announce that we have awarded our first Research Grant to Melissa Mazzarino, for her project; ‘Pilates exercises for low-risk pregnant women: A feasibility study’. Melissa is a Polestar Pilates Rehabilitation Practitioner and holds a Bachelor Nursing/Midwifery and Masters in Clinical Midwifery. Melissa’s research project is being carried out though her PhD candidacy at La Trobe University. Below is a short summary Melissa has provided to inform members about her research and the outcomes she hopes the project will lead to for the Pilates Community.

 

From Melissa:

I would like to thank the Pilates Alliance Australasia Research sub-committee for selecting our study: ‘Pilates exercises for low-risk pregnant women: A feasibility study’ to be the recipient for the PAA research grant. This study is being conducted by as part of my PhD thesis under the supervision of Professor Meg Morris, La Trobe University.

My PhD is a quantitative study entitled “Pilates method of exercise for low-risk pregnant women: A feasibility study.” This research is pioneering, as currently there have been no published randomised controlled trials investigating the effect of Pilates on health and birth outcomes in childbearing women. As part of my thesis a systematic review titled: “Pilates Method for Women’s Health: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials” was published in a high quality journal, Archives of Physical Rehabilitation and Medicine. Findings in this review found that evidence is absent for Pilates in improving perinatal outcomes.

As part of the PhD thesis, two studies and their corresponding publications have been completed and submitted to high quality peer review journals. The first publication titled “Pilates Method for Women’s Health: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials” aimed to critically analyse the benefits of Pilates on health outcomes in women. This manuscript was published in December 2015. Given that our systematic review found no evidence to support Pilates in improving health outcomes in pregnant women and that little is known about recommendations for safe and appropriate instruction of Pilates exercises to pregnant women, the aim of the second study was to examine Pilates practitioners’ perspectives regarding pregnancy Pilates exercise programming and design. We also sought to elucidate their views on the potential benefits, restrictions and contraindications on Pilates in pregnancy. This manuscript has been submitted to a high quality journal for review of publication.

Given that Pilates is a popular form of exercise during pregnancy in Australia and internationally, evidence is required to verify the benefits for maternal and birth outcomes. The third study of the thesis is a feasibility randomised controlled trial. The primary aim is to determine the feasibility of safety, recruitment, adherence, attrition and implementation of a 6 week Pilates intervention for low risk pregnant women. The secondary aims are to explore the relationships between participation in a Pilates intervention and health factors including: quality of life, lower extremity performance, stress urinary incontinence, diastasis of the rectus abdominis muscle and to describe maternal and birth outcomes. Findings from the first two thesis studies have contributed to the safe design of this feasibility study protocol. We have gained ethics approval for the feasibility trial from St Vincent’s Hospital HREC and La Trobe University. This study will commence on November 21^st  2016.

The publication of feasibility outcomes for Pilates during pregnancy will be one of the first studies to be published in this area. This will have a significant impact on the Pilates industry in enhancing theoretical knowledge to inform Pilates practice in the area of women’s health. This research will also be the starting point to develop clinical practice guidelines that frame the scope of practice for the Pilates practitioner, specifically when instructing Pilates to the pregnant woman. The publication of this research will strengthen the profession’s identity in promoting Pilates as a safe, appropriate and effective form of exercise during pregnancy. Research findings of the benefits of Pilates need to be shared with primary health care disciplines such as midwives, obstetricians and general practitioners to ensure collaborative relationships are facilitated between the Pilates’ industry and health care professions.

Thank you for providing me the opportunity to share findings with the Pilates industry. I am very grateful for this unique opportunity to contribute to the Pilates profession.

Kind regards,
Melissa Mazzarino