The role of physical activity in preparing women for pregnancy and delivery in Poland.

Our aim in conducting this study is to document different forms of recreational activities chosen by women before and during pregnancy and to answer the question of how women prepared themselves physically to deliver their babies. We included 266 women who were in the third trimester of their pregnancies in this study. (The women were randomized.) Methods of recreation were divided into two groups: active (involving physical exercise) and passive (physical exercise not involved). From our findings we suggest that pregnancy dramatically changes the behavior of women with regard to physical recreation. There was a lack of professional preparation for delivery; only 12% of women in this study took part in so-called delivery classes.