Obstetrics physiotherapy is an expanding area that seeks the promotion and rehabilitation of physical and emotional health from the beginning of the gestational period to the postpartum. The obstetric physiotherapist acts by guiding and preparing the woman to perceive and understand her responsibility in the process through specific guidelines and training ranging from regular physical activity to specific preparation for vaginal childbirth. Among the methods can be cited muscle training of the pelvic floor (TMAP), perineal massage and EPI-NO® training.

To evaluate the knowledge of pregnant women about physical therapy performance in the preparation of women for labor.

It is characterized as an exploratory, transverse, quantitative research, based on the application of an online questionnaire composed of 23 questions, two of numerical filling and the rest of the multiple choice elaborated in order to evaluate the degree of knowledge Pregnant women about the physiology of vaginal delivery, their rights at this time and about the performance of physical therapy in the gestational period and childbirth. Pregnant women over 18 years old were included with internet access. A questionnaire composed of 23 questions was prepared, with the objective of evaluating the degree of knowledge of pregnant women regarding the physiology of vaginal childbirth, their rights at this time and about the performance of physiotherapy in the gestational period and childbirth.

The responses of 285 pregnant women (29.7 ± 5.4 years; 25.8 ± 10.5 weeks gestational) were analyzed. Of these, 69.5% (n = 198) declared to be aware of physiotherapeutic intervention for pelvic floor muscles and 95.1% (n = 271) said this preparation can help during labor. On the other hand, 43.9% (n = 125) declared the absence of knowledge about the physiotherapist's performance during labor. Among the research participants were observed a greater preference for vaginal delivery (77.9%) compared to caesarean section (22.1%). The most specific preparation techniques for vaginal childbirth, perineal massage and epi-nodes represent the largest percentage of pregnant women who opted for a natural delivery, 42.9% and 56.3%. When the answers were stratified by the preference of delivery, less knowledge was observed about the techniques for perineal preparation for childbirth and physical therapy performance during labor in those who declared a preference for cesarean section.

It is concluded that there is ignorance of part of pregnant women regarding the performance of the physiotherapist during the gestational period and childbirth, and that this ignorance is superior to those with a preference for caesarean section. In addition, it is important to emphasize that the information should not be passed only through the physical therapist, but from the entire health team.

This directly implies the provision of information for this audience that seems to be lacking in information on the subject. It is of paramount importance to expand the dissemination of the performance of the physiotherapist during prenatal care, childbirth, especially among women with a preference for caesarean section, as the possibility of physiotherapeutic intervention can change the choice of childbirth.