Hi friends! Yoga is a form of exercise that has been shown to have several health benefits, especially in the prenatal period. Today we are going to talk about what those benefits are.
Doing prenatal yoga has been shown to have many positive impacts on both physical and mental health of the mom and baby. Prenatal yoga has been shown to improve low back pain during pregnancy (Babbar, 2016). Yoga has also been shown to help improve sleep (Babbar, 2016).
One study of women (Bolanthakodi, 2018) who started yoga at 30 weeks along in their pregnancies were found to have: -Lower risk of needing to be induced
-Lower risk of needing pain medication/epidural
-Lower risk of needing a cesarean section
-Shorter first stage of labor
-Lower risk of having a low-birth weight baby
Along with improvements in physical health, yoga can help with mental health. Prenatal yoga has been shown to have benefits on mental health and can partly reduce depressive symptoms in the prenatal and postpartum period (Gong, 2015; Bolanthakodi, 2018). Yoga can also help with anxiety and stress (Babbar, 2016).
Exercise in general, including yoga, can help to prevent several pregnancy complications. Researchers have found that exercise can reduce the risk of gestational hypertension (high blood pressure), preeclampsia, and diabetes.
Be sure to talk with your providers about which exercise is safe for you and your pregnancy.
To learn more and prepare for labor and birth check out some of our self-paced online courses:
Ready to learn more about your pelvic floor muscles? Here are some helpful resources:
Watch our YouTube playlist on Pregnancy and Your Pelvic Floor
Learn more about the pelvic floor muscles with our book: My Pelvic Floor Muscles The Basics
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Visit our Instagram page for more on pelvic health.
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For providers, check our online courses to help your clients. Consider joining our Ambassador Program and most of our courses are included with your membership!
Prenatal Yoga and the Pelvic Floor with Deb Flashenberg E-RYT 500, LCCE, CD (DONA), Certified Pelvic Floor Yoga Teacher
Written by Emily Reul, PT, DPT
References
Babbar S, Shyken J. Yoga in pregnancy. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 2016;59(3):600-12.
Bolanthakodi C, Raghunandan C, Saili A, Mondal S, Saxena P. Prenatal yoga: effects on alleviation of labor pain and birth outcomes. J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(12):1181-1188.
Gong H, Ni C, Shen X, Wu T, Jiang C. Yoga for prenatal depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychiatry. 2015;15(14).