Dr Marlize de Vivo, exercise in pregnancy

Women in Sport and Exercise Academic Network Podcast

Dr Marlize De Vivo is a qualified Biokineticist, Sports Rehabilitator and Sport & Exercise Scientist with extensive experience spanning health and sports settings. During her PhD, she focused on understanding and predicting the physical activity behaviour of pregnant women, leading to the development of This Mum Moves, a national educational initiative to upskill workforces, supported by National Lottery and Sport England funding.

Since then, she has co-directed the Perinatal Physical Activity Research Group (PPARG) at Canterbury Christ Church University, generating insights into women’s engagement in sport and physical activity during their childbearing years. She has also been instrumental in the development of national physical activity guidelines, serving on the Expert Working Group for the Chief Medical Officers' guidelines.

As an academic, Marlize is currently based at the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University, where she is the National Centre for Sport & Exercise Medicine (NCSEM) Programme Manager. Outside of this, her “passion project” is The Active Pregnancy Foundation – a registered charity supporting women to stay active throughout pregnancy and beyond, by providing expertise and advice, changing culture, and challenging policy.

We will hear Marlize talk about all her activities, and how This Mum Moves came from connections she’d made with individuals trying to make a difference for pregnant women. One of these connections even came from a social media post she did. I really enjoyed chatting with Marlize and was inspired by the advice she gave at the end on how to make an impact in whatever you’re doing.

Themes covered in this episode

• PhD – how this came about.
• Results of This Mum Moves – e.g., how taken off nationwide and the impact it has had generally and on e.g., confidence of midwives talking about exercise in pregnancy and postpartum.
• Guidance that can offer to professionals/individuals who are pregnant that generally not known about, regarding exercise during pregnancy and postpartum.
• The Active Pregnancy Foundation – main activities.
• Biggest success/proudest achievement a part of the Active Pregnancy Foundation.
• Where does the Active Pregnancy Foundation go from here?
• Exciting things for the future (in terms of research). Research direction.
• Tips for others on turning their PhD/research/activities into something that can make a difference.