Expertise and individually tailored interventions are expected by pregnant women with pelvic girdle pain who seek physical therapy: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Pelvic girdle pain (PGP) in pregnancy may result in activity limitations and thus a negative impact on the individual woman's everyday life. Women's expectations when they seek physical therapy because of PGP are not yet known. OBJECTIVE: To explore pregnant women's lived experience of PGP and what needs and expectations they express prior to a physical therapy consultation. METHODS: A qualitative study using a descriptive phenomenological method. Interviews conducted with 15 pregnant women seeking physical therapy because of PGP, recruited through purposive sampling at one primary care rehabilitation clinic. RESULTS: PGP was described by four themes; An experience with larger impact on life than expected, A time for adjustments and acceptance, A feeling of insecurity and concern, A desire to move forward. PGP had a large impact on the pregnant women´s life. Thoughts of PGP as something to be endured was expressed, the women therefore accepted the situation. Finding strategies to manage everyday life was hard and when it failed, the women described despair and a need for help. They expected the physical therapist to be an expert who would see them as individuals and provide advice that could make their everyday life easier. CONCLUSION: Our results reveal that pregnant women with PGP delay seeking physical therapy until their situation becomes unmanageable and they run out of strategies for self-care. The women express, in light of their individual experiences, needs and expectations for professional management and advice tailored to their individually unique situation.

Women's experiences of obstetric anal sphincter injury and physical therapy interventions - A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: During childbirth, women may suffer perineal injuries that can lead to persistent disorders. No interview study has investigated women's experience of obstetric anal sphincter injuries (OASIS) and physical therapy rehabilitation process after the injury. OBJECTIVE: To describe women's experiences of OASIS and the physical therapy rehabilitation process. METHODS: A qualitative study with an inductive approach based on semi-structured interviews was performed with 14 primi- and multi-parous women affected by OASIS. They had been sutured within 24 h and were recruited from a university hospital in Sweden. The interviews lasted between 35 and 66 min. Data were processed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Three main categories emerged from the analysis: The categories described experiences of a difficult time after the injury and physical therapy rehabilitation but also experiences of a safe follow-up. Moreover, experiences of that it wasn´t that bad after all when looking back. CONCLUSION: Regardless of the extent of the injury, some women experienced a long and troublesome recovery with intense physical therapy rehabilitation, while other women felt that they fortunately got away lightly. Factors that can influence a woman's confidence in safely beginning pelvic floor muscle training at an early stage include individualizing when and how information about OASIS is provided. Meeting each woman's needs and wishes is emphasized by this study.