Telehealth: Diaphragmatic vs. Pelvic Exercise in Postpartum Pregnancy-related Pelvic Girdle Pain

Comparison of Diaphragmatic Breathing Exercise and Pelvic Stabilization Exercise in Postpartum Women With Pregnancy-related Pelvic Girdle Pain: A Real-time Telehealth-based Intervention

The goal of this interventional study is to compare investigate the short-term and long-term effects of 8-week real-time telehealth-based diaphragmatic breathing exercise and pelvic stabilization exercise on pain, disability, and quality of life in postpartum women with pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age between 20-65 years
• Postpartum ≥ 3 months
• Pain located in sacroiliac joints (i.e., pain located between the posterior iliac crest and gluteal fold)
• Pregnancy-related cause of pelvic pain that pain occurs during pregnancy or after delivery (i.e., not traumatic or degenerative cause)
• At least 2 positive findings of 6 pain provocation tests for pelvic pain
• Score of Active Straight Leg Rise (ASLR) test > 0

Exclusion Criteria:

• being pregnant or actively trying to get pregnant
• having known causes of pelvic girdle pain, such as fractures and rheumatism
• having undergone lumbar, pelvic, gynecologic or obstetric surgery
• having current neurological symptoms and signs in lower extremities such as lumbar radiculopathy and myelopathy
• having cancer
• having cardiovascular disease
• being diagnosed as having a psychiatric disease
• active infection or infectious disease in the pelvis or abdomen
• having experience with structured and supervised core or trunk exercise training programs.