-
Determining The Recreational Health Practices By Pregnant Women In Selected Antenatal Clinics
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 2]
Page 2 of 2
-
-
-
According to Hoeger and Hoger (2010) during pregnancy the body
experiences dramatic physiological and psychological changes which is
natural, inorder to remain healthy, the pregnant woman must indulge in
regular physical activities called exercise. According to Hornby (2010),
exercise is an activity requiring physical effort done to improve
health, it is a physical or mental activity that is done to stay healthy
or become stronger. Exercise session in antenatal clinic should be
designed to stimulate interest in the physical changes occurring to
promote body awareness and to facilitate physical and mental relaxation.
According,
to Makinde, Adeyemo and Ogundele (2014), the professional health
workers need to carefully design recreational and physical exercise
programme to enable the pregnant woman remain healthy. Recreational
health practices do wonders for the woman during pregnancy. It helps to
prepare her for childbirth by strengthening her muscles and building
endurance (Ministry of Health, Brazil 2001). Green (1993) also discussed
about breathing and relaxation exercises that were widely used and were
most successful for the relief of labour pain and to enhance better
emotional wellbeing. The health of the mother and that of the fetus is
improved when the mother performs some simple exercises during
pregnancy. Exercise has been known scientifically and physically to
promote blood circulation to the mother and the fetal vital organs such
as the brain, liver and heart etc., exercise also improves pelvic bone
and muscle tone thus enhancing normal safe delivery of the baby during
labour (Dianne & Myles, 2004). Shrock (2008) observed that as more
pregnant women engage in demanding occupations, physical activities, and
sports, the obstetrician and midwives who take care of them must become
knowledgeable about the physical changes of pregnancy and the effects
of exercise on the mother and fetus. Because prevention is the best
approach to health care, understanding both the bodily stresses that may
result from pregnancy changes and the means to prevent unnecessary
problems enables health care to be instituted early in pregnancy and
continued through the postpartum period. Therefore a properly organized
antenatal care classes would have a physiotherapist or midwife teach
pregnant women the rudiment of recreation during pregnancy, telling them
the benefits derivable and the limits they should go. Such benefits
include that recreational exercise improves blood circulation,
strengthens the pelvic floor muscles and prevent backaches (Dianne &
Myle, 2004).
Recreational Health activities according to McLean,
Hurd and Rogers (2005) are activities often done for enjoyment,
amusement, or pleasure and which are considered to be of health benefit
to the individual undergoing it. Recreation as defined by Boye (2009) is
any form of free activity that an individual performs at his or her
leisure hours. It could be done indoors or outdoors and it could be
passive or active. Recreation can be done for mental, physical,
emotional and social development, recreational health activities have
been found to be of immense benefit to both the pregnant woman and the
unborn child.
It is one aspect for the care givers to recommend the
recreational practices and it is another for pregnant women to adhere to
it. Adherence would depend on several factors of which an awareness of
the benefits is one. A study carried out among pregnant women attending
antenatal clinic by Sarfraz, Islami, Hammed, Hasan and Ahmad (2013)
showed that 95.2% of the women agreed that physiotherapy has positive
role in ante-natal care although only 30% were currently following the
exercise programme. Where awareness is lower, adherence to the exercise
would be very much lower.
Another very important aspect of
recreational practices by pregnant women undergoing antenatal care
clinics is that of monitoring. Makinde et al (2014) found that 294
(58.8%) of respondents in their study wanted prenatal exercise to be
performed by the expert while 116 representing 23.3% of the total
respondents did not prefer expert to perform exercise for them.
CHAPTER ONE -- [Total Page(s) 2]
Page 2 of 2
-
