Examination of awareness, knowledge and beliefs on pelvic floor and pelvic floor muscle training in pregnant women

Aim: This study aimed to determine the awareness, knowledge, and beliefs of pregnant women on pelvic floor and pelvic floor muscle training. Methods: A total of 250 volunteer women with gestational weeks ranging between 5 to 40 weeks were included in this study. After the physical and socio-demographic characteristics of the pregnant women were recorded, they were asked to complete the questionnaire assessing their awareness, knowledge and beliefs on pelvic floor and pelvic floor muscle training. Results: It was determined that 70.4% of the pregnant women had not heard of the pelvic floor muscles before, 95.2% did not get information about pelvic floor muscles, 90.8% did not know why they needed pelvic floor muscles. It was found that 47.6% of the pregnant women believed that urinary incontinence during pregnancy was normal. In addition, 98% of the pregnant women did not think that they had sufficient information about pelvic floor muscles. It was found that knowledge, awareness and beliefs about pelvic floor and pelvic floor muscles were similar between gestational trimesters (p> 0.05). Conclusion: As a result, pregnant women had insufficient awareness and knowledge levels, maladaptive beliefs about pelvic floor muscles and training. It is essential for pregnant women to know potential problems, preventive and therapeutic methods in this process which they are at risk for various pelvic floor dysfunctions. Therefore, it can be recommended that pregnant women should be routinely informed about the pelvic floor by health professionals and encouraged to participate in pelvic floor muscle training.