The impact of osteopathic correction on the life quality of pregnant women

Introduction. The development of pregnancy is accompanied by a number of regular structural and functional changes in a woman′s body, which, in turn, can both reduce the level of life quality and serve as a background or a cause for the formation of somatic dysfunctions, the level of manifestation and severity of which depend on the compensatory capabilities of the female body. Therefore during this period a woman needs to ensure a high level of life quality. At the present stage the pregnancy′s support dictates the need to use an integrated approach to solving the issues of preventing the development of complications during pregnancy, as well as reducing perinatal risks for the mother and fetus. At the same time, issues of the life quality of pregnant women are often not given due attention. This dictates the need to search for methods (primarily non-drug) that contribute to improving the life quality.The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of osteopathic correction on the life quality of pregnant women.Materials and methods. A prospective controlled randomized study conducted in the period from 03.2018 to 03.2022 on the basis of the Mokhov Institute of Osteopathy LLC Medical Clinic included 90 somatically healthy pregnant women aged 25–45 years, whose gestation period was 13–27 weeks. All pregnant women, depending on the used correction technique, were divided by a randomization envelopes method into three groups: the main (30 people), control (30 people) and comparison group (30 people). The patients of the main group received osteopathic correction (3 procedures with an interval of 10–14 days). The control group patients used physical exercises 2 times a week for 1,5 months as prescribed by a physical therapy doctor. The patients of the third group were dynamically monitored. Before and after the correction an osteopathic examination of all pregnant women was conducted with the formation of an osteopathic conclusion, and also their life quality was assessed according to the criteria of the SF-36 questionnaire.Results. For pregnant women, as the pregnancy period increases, a decrease in both the physical and psychological components of the life quality is characteristic. In the main group, compared with the control group, after osteopathic correction, there was a statistically significant increase in the indicators of the physical and psychological components of the life quality (p=0,0024). The use of physical therapy exercises by healthy pregnant women leads to the fact that quality of life indicators tend to increase as pregnancy progresses.Conclusion. The development of pregnancy is accompanied by a number of regular structural and functional changes in a woman′s body, which in turn can reduce the quality of life. The use of osteopathic correction during pregnancy makes it possible to improve the life quality of pregnant women, and so it can be used to improve medical care for this contingent of the population.