Postnatal quality of life in women after normal vaginal delivery and cesarean section with and without physiotherapy care

Abstract

Back ground: There are many studies that assess different problems resulting from normal vaginal delivery and caesarean section, but there are very few studies focusing on role of physiotherapy care in postnatal health related quality of life (QOL) among women with different types of delivery. Objectives: Aim of this study was to know the difference between QOL in postnatal women with and without physiotherapy care in normal as well as caesarean section deliveries. Study Design: A Prospective Cohort Study of QOL of women living in Vadodara City. Materials and Methods: Postnatal women with normal vaginal delivery and caesarean section delivery and also those who were seeking physiotherapy care (15 women) and women seeking no physiotherapy care (15 women) were interviewed at tertiary care centre from December 2009 to March 2010. A format of WHOQOL-BREF, a simple questionnaire of 26 items was filled up within 3 weeks after the delivery. QOL was compared between women after normal delivery and caesarean section delivery taking physiotherapy care and also not attending physiotherapy care. SPSS version 13 was used to analyze the data. Results: The mean age of postnatal women seeking physiotherapy was 29.33+11.72 years compared to mean age of postnatal women taking no physiotherapy was 25.33 years+3.59 years. The mean score of QOL with physiotherapy group is 50.93+11.76 compared to mean QOL 55.33+ 13.93 among without physiotherapy group. The findings suggest that physiotherapy treatment improved patient’s symptoms due to pregnancy and all together maintained QOL.