Practice of Physiotherapeutic Care by Midwives: A Longitudinal Study before and after the Introduction of a Physical Therapy Training Program

Aim: To evaluate changes in midwives’ practice before and after the introduction of brief physiotherapeutic training sessions during pregnancy and the postpartum period, over a one-year period. Methods: This research design is a longitudinal study. We held a study session to introduce a simplified version of the midwife physical therapy training program, and then held additional lectures to strengthen the practice after 8 months. Immediately before the first study session, and three months, six months, and one year later, a self-administered questionnaire was used to gauge midwifery care practices, knowledge, and interest related to the physiotherapeutic perspective and confidence in practice. The methods used for measurement were ANOVA, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, and the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient. Results: Practice of midwifery care related to physiotherapeutic perspective increased gradually after the study session compared to before the session. There was a significant difference in practice after one year compared to before the session. Knowledge increased significantly at all time points after the study session compared to before. Interest was highest before the session and did not differ significantly after the session. Confidence to practice teaching increased significantly after one year, with significant positive correlations found between practice and knowledge at all time points after the study session, and between practice and confidence in teaching one year later. Conclusions: Within a year after introducing study sessions, changes in midwives’ practices were confirmed. The study suggested that acquiring knowledge and confidence in physical therapy training are related to midwives’ practices. Trial registration: UMIN 000044921. Registered 20 July 2021, https://center6.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr_e/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000051312.