Pregnant women’s experiences with a pelvic floor muscle training program in Nepal

Figures & data

Table 1. Illustration of the three analytical steps after the first step of reading through the ten interviews, exemplified with the first analytical theme/category followed by the next two steps. Note that the English in the first column is the verbatim transcription, translated directly from Nepali

Meaning-bearing units	Central meaning themes	Analytical theme/category
I did not know anything about it (PFM) before (PFMT) (interview 2)	Old women share their experiences and knowledge on gynecological problems with young pregnant women.	Gynecological problems during/after pregnancy belong to women’s social world.
Yes, I have heard from our grandmothers and old people say about UP. I used to wonder, what was UP? (interview 4)
No, I was unknown about it (PFM) before (interview 8)	The women’s narratives focus on the social and practical consequences of pregnancy and birth.
I didn’t know about it (PFM) before (interview 9)
Heavy lifting, uterine infection may lead to UP [told her grandmother] (interview 9)	The pregnant women lack knowledge on muscular- and physiological issues before they attend the PFMT-program.
She [the grandmother] had a ring to fix it but she still has problem of UI (interview 9)
I didn’t know about it (PFM) before as it was my first time [being pregnant] (interview 10)
Heavy lifting might cause it [UP] as my mother-in-law told me about it (interview 10)
Etc. from in total 10 interviews.

PFM: Pelvic Floor Muscles. PFMT: Pelvic Floor Muscle Training. UP: Uterine Prolapse. UI: Urine Incontinence.

Table 2. Characteristics of the sub-sample relative to the strategic sample who participated in the PFMT program

Variables	Strategic sample n = 253*	Sub-sample n = 10**
Age, years, mean (SD)	25 (4)	25 (4)
Number of pregnancies, median (IQR)	1 (0–2)	2 (1–2)
Body mass index, kg/m^2, mean (SD)	23 (4)	-
Area n (%) Urban Rural	Kavre 232 (92) 21 (8)	Kavre 8 (100) 0 (0)
Family n (%) Nuclear Extended	89 (35) 164 (65)	2 (25) 6 (75)
Education, years n (%) No education Primary school (1–5) Secondary (6–12) Bachelor and above (>12)	8 (3) 19 (8) 172 (68) 54 (21)	0 (0) 0 (0) 3 (37) 5 (63)
Monthly income n (%) Yes No	58 (23) 195 (77)	--
Occupation, n (%)*** Housewife Business (shop, agriculture, etc) Employed (government, private) Other	251 (99) 13 (5) 45 (17) 7 (2)	8 (100) 4 (50) 4 (50)-

*The strategic sample that participated in the PFMT program, data reused from Acharya [37]

**The sub-sample interviewed in the present paper (Missing data, n = 2)

***Women can belong to more than one category

- no information given

Shijagurumayum Acharya R, Tveter AT, Grotle M, et al. Pelvic floor muscle training programme in pregnant Nepalese women-a feasibility study. Int Urogynecol J. 2020 [2019 Jul 28];31(8):1609–1619. PubMed PMID: 31346671.

 Web of Science ®Google Scholar