Evidence mapPaperPMID 41257651Full record

Trial reportBMC pregnancy and childbirth2025

The hidden power in the miracle of pregnancy: the effect of pelvic floor muscle training on fetal and fetal-maternal blood circulation and pelvic floor muscles during pregnancy, a randomized controlled trial.

Melda Başer Seçer, Sinem Çi̇çek Güvendi̇k, Ozge Çeliker Tosun, Onur Yavuz, Sefa Kurt, Gökhan Tosun, Merve Basol Goksuluk

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06861335 (Examination of the Effects of Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises on Vulvovaginal, Umbilical, Uterine and Middle Cerebral Artery Blood Flow in Pregnant Women), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT06861335 nacompletednot on this map

Examination of the Effects of Pelvic Floor Muscle Exercises on Vulvovaginal, Umbilical, Uterine and Middle Cerebral Artery Blood Flow in Pregnant Women

TypeinterventionalSponsorManisa Celal Bayar UniversityRan2024 to 2025Enrolled47ConditionsPelvic Floor Muscle Training, Pregnancy, Blood Flow IndexesArmsExercise, Control
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Melda Başer SeçerManisa Celal Bayar University Health Services Vocational School, Manisa, Turkey. melda.secer@cbu.edu.tr.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3943-2727
Sinem Çi̇çek Güvendi̇kFaculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
Ozge Çeliker TosunFaculty of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
Onur YavuzDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
Sefa KurtDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
Gökhan TosunDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Health Sciences, Tepecik Education and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.
Merve Basol GoksulukDepartment of Biostatistics, Sakarya University, Faculty of Medicine, Sakarya, Turkey.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThis study aimed to evaluate the effects of individualized pelvic floor muscle training (PFMT) in pregnant women on clitoral artery, umbilical artery (UmA), middle cerebral artery (MCA), uterine artery (UA) blood flow, and pelvic floor muscle (PFM) function.

methodsForty-seven primiparous women between 20 and 38 weeks of gestation were included in the study. Participants were randomly divided into exercise (n = 23) and control (n = 24) groups. The exercise group received an individualized PFMT home program, while the control group received standard antenatal care. Blood flow measurements of the clitoral, UmA, MCA, and UA were performed with Doppler ultrasonography (USG) in both groups. Additionally, PFM function was assessed by digital palpation using the PERFECT system and USG. Measurements were repeated three times at 20-24, 28-32, and 35-38 weeks of gestation.

resultsA statistically significant increase was observed in PFM endurance and fast twitch values in the PFMT group (p < 0.001). No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in the pulsatility indices (PI) of the clitoral, UmA, MCA, and UA at three time points (p > 0.05). However, as pregnancy progressed, UmA PI decreased more in the exercise group (p = 0.004). The time-dependent change in the MCA/UmA PI ratio was not statistically significant across groups (p = 0.075). A Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model was used to evaluate the significance of main effects for group, time, and their interaction (group × time).

conclusionPFMT during pregnancy has positive effects on the PFM function and may play a modulating role in the maternal and fetal circulatory systems. Specifically, the positive changes observed in UmA blood flow support the potential benefits of PFMT for fetal well-being. Therefore, we believe recommending PFMT to pregnant women in clinical practice has the potential to enhance their quality of life and support a healthy pregnancy journey. However, more comprehensive, long-term postnatal follow-up studies are needed to definitively confirm PFMT's long-term effects on fetal neurodevelopment.

trial registrationNCT06861335, 02/28/2025 (retrospectively registered).

Indexed as

Exercise TherapyFetusPelvic FloorAdultClitorisFemaleHumansMiddle Cerebral ArteryPregnancyPrenatal CareRegional Blood FlowUltrasonography, DopplerUmbilical ArteriesUterine ArteryYoung AdultBlood flowFetal doppler ultrasonographyFetal well-beingMCAPFMTUterine artery

Identifiers

PMID41257651
PMCPMC12628581

What Socratic holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.