A unique course links physiotherapy and obstetrics – and shows how they can help together in childbirth

A full-day course packed with information and plenty of opportunities to try out the theory in practice was organised on 1 December by FHSS USB for midwives, doctors and physiotherapists. It focused on the issue of natural and non-progressive childbirth, and combined knowledge from gynaecology, obstetrics and physiotherapy. It brought the different disciplines together with the aim of having professionals work together to make women's births as easy as possible. The theoretical and practical part was intertwined with the rich clinical experience of obstetricians and physiotherapists. The participation of a pregnant woman as a figurehead was also beneficial.

The initiator of the course, entitled “Prevention of non-progressive childbirth from the persepctive of an obstetrician and a physiotherapist,” was MUDr. et Mgr. Marcela Míková Ph.D., the professional guarantor of the course. Also invited were doc. MUDr. Ondřej Šimetka, Ph.D., MBA – Head of the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Clinic of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ostrava, Head of the Perinatology Centre of the University Hospital Ostrava, and Mgr. Marika Bajerová – a physiotherapist with fifteen years of experience working at the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Clinic of the University Hospital Ostrava and at the Institute of Rehabilitation of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Ostrava. “Our main goal is to connect physiotherapy and obstetrics, and to show how we can prevent non-progressive childbirth. The course also includes practical exercises on what we can do to support certain stages of labour," said Mgr. Marika Bajerová. She added that the aim is to manage the birth with a minimum of aids – and to rely on one's own hands and body if possible. There was great interest in the course at the FHSS USB. Its capacity of 30 seats was filled very quickly: in the audience were doctors and physicians from hospitals, midwives, physiotherapists, as well as teachers from České Budějovice and further afield. Physiotherapist Mgr. Jana Jarošová found the course greatly enriching. She said: "The most important thing is this interdisciplinary connection - we discussed how a physiotherapist can contribute to making childbirth as easy as possible, and what an obstetrician can expect from a physiotherapist." The course participants were also given visual study material.