The influence of physical exercises on pregnant women on the development of labour

My work deals with the topic of ``Influence of Physical Exercises during Pregnancy on the Course of the Labour{\crqq}. I decided to explore this subject when I visited a course for pregnant women. I enjoyed the lecture I attended and I was interested whether the time and efforts that the women spent on the exercises were truly worth it. Already in the Antiquity and in the Early Middle Ages people took interest in health of pregnant women and their preparation for the labour. Doctors recommended to them relaxing more, best in lying positions, and bathing in hot water, and they forbade them to bathe in cold water. Based on those recommendations we can see that today{\crq}s psycho-prophylactic preparation of pregnant women has deep roots already in the old times of the Antiquity. The main objective of physical exercises in pregnancy is a good physical and mental condition. The labour and the actual pregnancy are very demanding in terms of the physical and mental fitness, and therefore it is good to be prepared for it. Proper physical exercises help women manage the increased demands on their organisms during the pregnancy, and after the labour it helps them with easier and quicker return to their body weight before the pregnancy. The exercises especially designed for pregnant women prepare them for the labour so that it was as easy for them as possible and did not exhaust them more than it was necessary. Whether the exercise is suitable for the woman or not must be assessed by her doctor on individual basis and based on the current health condition of the woman and her foetus, on the length of pregnancy, physical condition of the woman etc. The goal of this work was to find out whether the physical exercises during the pregnancy truly influence the course of the physiological labour. In order to collect all information I carried out a quantitative research in the form of a questionnaire and I also applied information regarding the length of the labour I had acquired from the medical documentation of women after their physiological labour hospitalized in the lying-in clinic. Before I launched the research I had established a hypothesis that women who had underwent any kind of physical exercises during their pregnancy had faster course of the labour than those who had not attended any such courses. A more significant difference in the length of the labour has been recorded only in case of multiparas who had not done any physical exercises during their pregnancy. The research showed that women (multiparas) who attended any course for pregnant women during their pregnancy have shorter labour approximately by 49 minutes than those women (multiparas) who did not do any exercises. This work could help midwives who lead antenatal courses for pregnant women as part of their primary care. The information could be also provided to the medical staff who meet pregnant women in their practice (for instance in gynaecological departments) and who could deliver the information to them