Around 50% of women who give birth naturally have trauma to the birthing tract requiring soft tissue suturing. In Lithuania, women spend an average of 2-3 days in hospital after an uncomplicated natural delivery, which is not always enough time to acquire the skills to take care of the new-born as well as to care for the delivery wound. Continuity of care after the return of the mother from hospital is particularly important to avoid complications in the postnatal period such as fever, wound infections, resolution of wound edges, incontinence of gases or faeces, formation of fistulae, painful sexual intercourse, and delay of future family planning. Aim of the study: to assess the importance of continuity of care for women with obstetric trauma. Methods: A quantitative study, an anonymous survey of women who have given birth naturally in the last two years and who have experienced various soft tissue injuries of the birthing tract between November 2020 and January 2021, following an analysis of the scientific literature, was conducted.The survey data were analysed using Microsoft Office Excel 2016 data processing software. The study was carried out in accordance with ethical principles. Results: 110 women participated in the study. Most of the respondents were first-time mothers with grade I-II perineal or vaginal tears. More than half of the women highlighted the lack of information from professionals about home care of the birth canal, postnatal sexuality, and family planning. Conclusions: Women with natural childbirth who have suffered soft tissue injuries to the birthing tract experience pain in the wound area in the postnatal period, which limits movement when walking, sitting, getting up from a lying position, and feel anxiety and fear of soft tissue injury when defecating. Mothers are not sufficiently informed about home care of the obstetric wound and would prefer follow-up care in primary care.

Aim of the study: to analyse parents' feelings about preterm birth and cooperation with nurses in hospital. Research methods. After the analysis of scientific sources, a quantitative research was conducted - online written survey from 26-11-2020 to 21-12-2020, in the focused groups "Klaipėda premature babies", "Mothers", "Premature babies", "Premature babies and Mothers' Fears", "Natural Motherhood", "Helping to Grow". The study involved 106 parents who had premature births in the last two years and had been admitted to hospital for more than 48 hours. SPSS version 24.0 was used for the statistical analysis of the study data. Results. The majority of the participants were women (68,9%), more than half of the parents (51,9%) were aged between 31 and 40 years, and the majority of the participants had a university degree. For more than a third of the participants this was their first birth. The study showed that the majority of parents of preterm newborns were afraid for their child's health/life (4.41±0.85) and sad that they could not be with their child all day (4±0.97). The most important factors for parents to cooperate with nurses were pleasant communication (4.68±0.54), sharing of experience (4.65±0.68), taking responsibility (4.65±0.82) and timely information (4.63±0.64). Slightly less important for parental cooperation are individual personal characteristics (4.5±0.96) and personal attitudes (4.3±1.12). Conclusions. Parents with a premature newborn feel fear for their child's health/life and sad that they cannot spend all their time together. When caring for a premature newborn in hospital, the following factors are important for cooperation with nurses: pleasant communication, sharing of experience, taking responsibility and timely information.

Labor, as a life event, is characterized by tremendous physiological and psychological changes that require major behavioral adjustments in a short period of time. These changes may negatively impact the state of the pregnant woman and the fetus and may even complicate pregnancy and childbirth. Clinically significant fear of childbirth is estimated to affect 20-25% of pregnant women and the prevalence of pathological fear is thought to be 6-10%. Objective. To examine the influence of fear of childbirth on the process of delivery and the choice of analgesia. Methods. The study composed of two stages was carried. During the first stage of this study 245 lowrisk pregnant women in their 3rd trimester of pregnancy completed A version of The Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire (W-DEQ) and the fear of childbirth was evaluated. During the second stage of the study medical records (including information about the exact time of labor, the beginning of labor, duration of labor, labor progress, mode of delivery, the medicinal pain relief used during delivery) of 189 respondents were examined. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 17.0. Results. Study showed that the majority of respondents (47,8 %) experienced moderate fear, 34,7% respondents suffered from severe fear, 16,3% respondents experienced mild fear, while 1,2% respondents suffered from pathological fear. Severe fear was more common in unemployed, single women and women with lower education. The fear of childbirth intensifies closer to the birth. Statistically significant links between the fear of childbirth and the beginning of spontaneous labor, premature rupture of membranes, induced labor and the use medicinal pain relief have been found. The study could not show an important connection between the mode of delivery and the fear of childbirth. However, respondents who had vacuum delivery were experiencing higher level of fear of childbirth than those respondents who had spontaneous delivery or caesarean section. Conclusions. Pregnant women experience moderate or severe fear of childbirth closer to the birth. Greater fear of childbirth increased the risk of protracted and inducted labor and using medicinal pain relief during the labor. The fear of childbirth is not connected with the mode of delivery.

Physical activity during pregnancy is crucial not only for a woman's physical health but also for her emotional health and the outcome of pregnancy and childbirth. Providing sufficient and timely information to women about the importance of physical activity during pregnancy would encourage them to exercise. Aim of the study – to analyse pregnant women's awareness of the benefits of physical activity during pregnancy. Methods. Quantitative study, online questionnaire survey conducted in March 2022. The study involved 164 pregnant women with a mean age of 30.43±4.52 years. Statistical software package SPSS 21.0 for Windows was used for data analysis. Results. 79% of the participants were pregnant for the first time and 83% of the women were 33-40 weeks pregnant at the time of the survey. The results showed a significant decrease in women's physical activity during pregnancy compared to the pre-pregnancy period, with 68.9% being physically active before pregnancy and 47.0% during pregnancy. In terms of changes in physical activity, it was found that, of those who were physically active before pregnancy, more than a quarter of the women had stopped physical activity during pregnancy. When analysing the body parts affected by pain and comparing the assessment of complaints during pregnancy according to physical activity during pregnancy, it was found that posterior pelvic pain and fatigue were statistically significantly more common in the physically inactive participants than in the physically active ones. Physically active women ranked walking, exercise, swimming, yoga as the most frequent physical activities during pregnancy and rated their health higher than physically inactive women. The study found that sources of information on the benefits of physical activity during pregnancy include: the internet, scientific articles, antenatal education and medical advice. Conclusions. Women's awareness of the benefits of physical activity during pregnancy is low.