During pregnancy, physiological adaptations occur in the respiratory and cardiovascular systems to support the increased metabolic needs of both mother and fetus. Key respiratory changes include mechanical adjustments of the chest wall and diaphragm to accommodate the growing uterus; decreases in functional residual capacity and its components—expiratory reserve volume and residual volume—with minimal or no change in total lung capacity; and an increase in minute ventilation. Major cardiovascular adaptations involve elevated cardiac output, stroke volume and heart rate, and decreased mean arterial pressure and systemic vascular resistance. During exercise in pregnancy, there is an increase in ventilation, alveolar diffusion, elevated oxygen consumption, greater carbon dioxide production and changes in respiratory volumes and capacities, as well as increases in cardiac output, stroke volume and heart rate. Understanding these normal physiological changes during pregnancy and exercise in pregnancy is essential for healthcare providers to develop and adapt exercise programs according to the gestational age and physical fitness level of the pregnant woman.

Pregnancy is followed by complex and intense physiological changes in the maternal body, whose goal is to provide all the needs of the mother and the growing fetus. The endocrine system and thermoregulation integrate physiologic responses and play an important role in maintaining homeostatic conditions during exercise in pregnancy. Changes and adaptations during exercise in pregnancy are conditioned by the influence of numerous metabolic and biochemical events, which act on the target tissues through physiological mechanisms. Many hormones are released during exercise and a variety of cells are responsible for a number of different responses. Pregnancy involves changes in thermoregulation that lead to an increase in heat production and its preservation. Physiological mechanisms that enable the release of excess body temperature in order for the body to maintain an ideal temperature during exercise are increased, such as sweating and vasodilation of blood vessels. The reaction of a mother to exercise training depends on the exercise duration and intensity of training, the nutrient profile, and the level of fitness. Exercise has many improving effects on functional aspects of tissues and organs, resulting in improved health and/or performance.

Objective: This narrative review is presenting the impact of exercise on pregnant women and fetus and provides current recommendations for exercise in pregnancy. Mechanism: Exercise during pregnancy has a numerous effects on both pregnant woman and her fetus. When recommending exercise during pregnancy, it is necessary to keep in mind the physiological responses of the body’s systems during exercise, changes occuring in pregnancy and the influence of this changes on pregnant woman’s body as well as on the fetus and fetal responses to exercise during pregnancy. The type, intensity, duration, and frequency of exercise should be adjusted to the level of physical activity of pregnant women and period of pregnancy in order to achieve clinically significant health benefits. Findings in Brief: Exercise in pregnancy is beneficial for both the mother and her fetus and contributes to the prevention of pregnancy-related disorders. It is recommend to exercise 30 minutes daily five days a week with a tendency to increase the exercise each day in order to accumulate 150 to 300 minutes of exercise per week with moderate intensity. Conclusions: Regular exercise leads to specific adaptation processes of the body systems improving the physical and mental health of pregnant women with positive effect on her fetus.

Cognitive emotional regulation refers to a conscious or unconscious process that affects an individual's emotions and the physical and mental health of the individual. The aim of this study was to detect strategies of cognitive emotional regulation used by physiotherapy students in stressful situations. The study was conducted from January to March 2022 and enrolled 372 students. An announcement was posted electronically on the web page of each physiotherapy study in Croatia, inviting students to participate in the study. Each participant provided written informed consent. The Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire was used in the study for detecting cognitive emotional strategies that students use in stressful situations. Statistical analysis of data included descriptive statistics of data groups where values were expressed as mean and standard deviation. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov test was used to test the normality of the distribution. To test the differences between two independent groups, the Mann–Whitney U rank sum test was applied, while the non-parametric Kruskal–Wallis test was used to test the differences of several subgroups of variables. Categorical variables were tested with Fischer's exact test or chi-square test. The most frequently used emotional cognitive regulation strategies are acceptance and positive reappraisal. There is a statistically significant difference in the use of self-blame (p < .001), rumination (p < .001) and blaming others (p = 0.018) in relation to gender. Also, there is a statistically significant difference in the use of acceptance (p = 0.022), rumination (p < .001) and blaming others (p = 0.049) in relation to the year of study. Education of physiotherapy students to the use of adaptive strategies could have a positive effect on the students’ learning quality, their decision–making abilities and the quality of physiotherapy provided to patients. Encouraging physiotherapy students to engage in cognitively adaptive ways of thinking can serve as a solid method to help students in an academic and professional environment.

Background and Objectives: Functional status of the mother after delivery is crucial for performing activities of daily living and caring for the newborn. It is important to assess functional abilities after childbirth in order to improve the quality of postpartum care. The aim of this study is to determine the psychometric properties of the questionnaire and assess the functional abilities after childbirth. Materials and Methods: This study is observational. Postpartum Functional Assessment Questionnaire includes eleven items. 301 women after childbirth, 234 after vaginal birth and 67 after caesarean section participated in the study. An assessment of pain intensity and functional abilities was performed on the first and third day after childbirth. The Factor and Cronbach’s alpha analyses were performed to determine the factor structure and internal consistency. Results: The analysis reveals two factors, with seven items loading on factor 1 and four on factor 2. Cronbach’s alpha for construct I (Mobility) at the first day was 0.927 and at the third day was 0.913; and for Factor II (Self-care) at the first day was 0.846 and at the third day was 0.894. All between-group differences in pain intensity and functional abilities were highly statistically significant (p < 0.001). Differences between the first and third postpartum day were statistically significant for all variables and all subgroups (p < 0.001). Conclusions: Postpartum Functional Assessment Questionnaire has good psychometric properties and is a valuable tool for use in clinical practice.