The Superior Journal of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Volume 03 Issue 01 Page | 1 Knowledge and Experiences of Pregnant Females Towards Physiotherapy in Lahore Zohaib Imran 1 , Qurba Kiran 2 , Javeria Aslam 3 , Adeela Shahid 4 , Arooj Shahzad 5 , Mahanoor Shafiq 6 ISSN: 2789-9403 P-ISSN: 2957-4579 ARTICLE INFORMATION ABSTRACT Corresponding Author: 1. qurbabutt8@gmail.com Affiliations: 1 Bodeclinic Bahria Orchard, Lahore 2 Shalamar school of allied health sciences 3 Shalamar school of allied health sciences 4 Rising sun institute for special children 5 Shalamar institute of health sciences 6 Shalamar institute of health sciences Objectives: To assess physiotherapy knowledge and experiences among pregnant females in antenatal care culture meanwhile aims to raise awareness about importance of physiotherapy in antenatal care. Methodology: This study was cross sectional. After the approval from IRB SMDC subjects were recruited using convenient sampling. Study setting was gynecology department of Shalamar hospital Lahore. Written consent form and study description was provided to each participant. After giving complete description of study data and signing the consent information was recorded through in person interview with each subject using a self- administered questionnaire, it took 5-10 minutes with each subject. Online Google form was sent to pregnant women. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS 25. Results: With a response rate of 100% it was found that most of women (n=106 79.1%) knew about physiotherapy, but knowledge and awareness of antenatal physiotherapy and its benefits were fairly low (n=46, 34.1%. Prevalence of low back pain (n=112, 82.9%), urine leakage (n=48, 35.5%), and other musculoskeletal stresses were seen to be high among pregnant females. While there was little guidance (n=23, 17%) about antenatal physiotherapy and referral to physiotherapy (n=22, 15.07%) was also quite low. Conclusion: Pregnant females had quite insufficient knowledge and experiences in antenatal physiotherapy. There is a need to educate masses about physiotherapy and its benefits in antenatal care. Appropriate measures should be taken to spread awareness and knowledge among pregnant females, families and health care providers for improvement of quality of life among pregnant females. Key words: Pregnant females, Physiotherapy, Pregnancy, Exercise, Knowledge, Experiences. Citation: Received: 10-12-2022 Revised and Accepted:08-02-2023 Published On-Line: 20-02-2023 SJPTR Work Licensed Under 4.0, Based on a work at http://sjptr.pk. Creative Commons Licenses Online Research Publications by authors is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial, No Derivatives 4.0 International License. Original Research Article Introduction: Pakistan as a developing country having population of 200 plus million is reportedly ranked 5th on largest countries list 1,2 and has a crude birth rate of 27.034 3 with maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of 140 per 1000 women. Pregnancy always sees complications and is associated with maternal mortality 4 . Pregnancy a physiological process comes up with several bodily changes and complications which need medical attention and care i.e., antenatal care. It includes medical, nutritional, psychological and social care and help. Antenatal care/services help with identifying and providing solutions to problems occurring in antennal and postnatal periods 5 . Most issues arise when the female remains unattended and these issues can be reduced and prevented with proper education of female and health care provision. Along with medical help Physical therapy plays an important role in antenatal and postnatal period. Physical therapy helps with correcting problems of cardiopulmonary, circulatory and neuromuscular systems e.g., low back pain, altered mechanics of joints, core weakness, pedal swelling, shortness of breath, numbness in peripheries, muscular strength/power deficits. In recent times there’s been a tremendous increase in the cesarean section delivery rate in Pakistan from 14% in 2012 to 22% in 2018 (6) . A c-section delivery might give rise to complications like anesthesia-related mortality when females are obese 7 , wound infection, perineal numbness, diastasis recti, low back pain, and urine incontinence. Physiotherapy training plays an important role in facilitating fetal position and normal vaginal deliveries in nullipara 8 . Moreover, moderate-intensity postpartum physiotherapy exercise programs reduce the problem of urinary incontinence 9 . Physical activity plays an important role in well-being. A carefully designed and structured physical activity plan is called exercise. Pregnancy comes with tremendous physiological, emotional and musculoskeletal stresses /discomforts on the female body. Antenatal caregivers aim to provide with supreme and optimal care so one can bear pregnancy with minimum complications. Exercise programs during pregnancy add up to benefits like overall fitness and