A study to evaluate the effectiveness of stretching exercise in reducing back pain among antenatal mothers in selected rural areas at Coimbatore

More than two-thirds of pregnant women experience back pain. This pain generally increases as pregnancy advances and it interferes with daily activities (like carrying, cleaning, sitting and walking). There are certain measures to manage pain. Antenatal exercises are relatively safe, inexpensive, and accessible and have beneficial effects in reducing the back pain during pregnancy. The statement of the problem is a study to evaluate the effectiveness of stretching exercise in reducing back pain among antenatal mothers in selected rural areas at Coimbatore. The objectives of the study are: To assess the level of back pain among antenatal mothers. To evaluate the effectiveness of stretching exercise in reducing back pain among antenatal mothers. To determine the association between the level of back pain among antenatal mothers with their selected demographic variables and obstetric variables. Pre-experimental one group pretest post test design was adopted and non probability purposive sampling technique was chosen for this study. The sample consists of 30 antenatal mothers. The study was conducted in selected five villages under Arisipalayam rural PHC Coimbatore. Data collected by means of structured interview questionnaire - Modified Roland Morris back pain questionnaire to assess the back pain among antenatal mothers. Stretching exercises was demonstrated and made to practice for 2 weeks in alternative days. The result reveals ‘t’ value was 5.05. It was significant at p < 0.05 level. Hence, the stated hypotheses H1 was accepted. It is inferred that stretching exercise was highly effective in reducing back pain among antenatal mothers with back pain