Participants
Participants were recruited at 12–14 weeks of gestation among pregnant
women attending antenatal care at the Department of Obstetrics,
Rigshospitalet. Pregnant women were eligible to participate if they had
depression and/or anxiety requiring treatment by a psychiatrist, general
practitioner or a psychologist within the previous ten years, and/or if
they used antidepressants in the three months prior to or during
pregnancy. Depression and anxiety was defined according to The
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
(DSM-V) criteria (20).
The participants meet the following inclusion criteria: ≥18 years of
age, appropriate Danish language skills, singleton pregnancy, and at
17–22 gestational weeks at the start of the intervention. Women
fulfilling these criteria but with a chronic disease were only included
in the study after prior agreement with their obstetrician. Participants
were withdrawn from the intervention after randomisation for the
following reasons: development of pelvic girdle syndrome, preeclampsia,
vaginal bleeding, or symptoms of preterm labour contraindicating
physical activity (19).