title: Teaching and practicing of pelvic floor muscle exercises in primiparous women during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to describe the teaching and practicing of pelvic floor muscle exercise (PFME) before and after delivery.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a secondary data analysis from a prospective multicenter cohort study, the Childbirth and Pelvic Symptoms study, by the Pelvic Floor Disorders Network. Primiparous women (n = 759) with term singleton delivery were interviewed 6 months after delivery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-four percent of the women had been taught PFME, most with verbal (76%) and/or written instructions (55%) and a few (10%) during pelvic examination. Women with anal sphincter tears were not more likely to receive instruction or reminders after delivery. More white women (75%) were taught PFME than were Asian women (48%), African American women (36%), or Hispanic women (39%; P < .0001). More women with college education (74%) were taught, compared with women without a college education (37%; P < .0001). Of those women who were taught, 68% performed PFME after delivery, and 63% were still performing the exercises 6 months after delivery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results reveal tremendous potential for the improvement of PFME education and targeting at-risk women in the peripartum period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA. pfine@bcm.edu
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fine
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Burgio
authors.forename: Diane
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Borello-France
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Whitehead
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: Morton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brown
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010298:Parity; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D017773:Pelvic Floor / Q000503:physiopathology*; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014550:Urinary Incontinence, Stress / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000534:rehabilitation*