The Efficacy of Yoga Practice during Pregnancy on Postnatal Depression & Quality of Life

Background:The postpartum period is a very special phase in the life of a woman and her newborn.There was high prevalence of depression during postnatal phase. Previous studies proposed that yoga practice has found health benefited effects in pregnancy & postnatal phase. Aim:To study the effect of yoga practice during pregnancy on postnatal depression & quality of life. Methodology: A cross-section study on sixty-eight pregnant women with mean age ranging from 20 to 35 years with mean age of (29.66 ± 3.57) were enrolled in this study. They were divided into groups (yoga n=37) & control (31). Subjects with known case of Pregnancy complications, labor complications, psychiatric illness & medical illness were excluded from the study. The subjects of yoga group were attended four month of yoga practice consist of asana, pranayama, & relaxation techniques thrice in week for one hour per session per day during their pregnancy. And the subjects of control group followed their daily routine with walking for one hour. Quality of life & EPDS were assessed. The assessments were carried out after 10th week of postnatal period. Mann-Whitney test was used to assess between group differences. Result: Quality of life measured by QOL more in yoga group: Physical Health (P<0.001), Psychological health (P<0.003), Social relationship (P<0.001), Environmental health (P<0.016) than control group. Postnatal depression as measured by EPDS less in yoga than control (P<0.001) with significant difference between groups. In yoga group, Out of 37 participants ten pregnant women (27 %) have score 10 & above (EPDS) score suggesting clinically depression, where as in control group, out of 31 participants fifteen pregnant (48%) women have score more than ten & above (EPDS). Conclusion: Practice of yoga during pregnancy may help in reducing postnatal depression & improves quality of life in postnatal period.