While pregnancy is a memorable experience for moms of all ages and backgrounds, it can also be a stressful time. Your body is changing, hormones are going crazy and as you get further along, heartburn, discomforts and pregnancy insomnia often set in. Whether this is your first baby, or sixth, your life is about to undergo some major changes. Financial concerns and the stresses associated with juggling work, family commitments and trying to take care of yourself, and the ten months (yes, it is actually ten), leading up to your labor and delivery can ultimately lead to a very stressful time!
Miltress is a part of life, but it can also lead to serious disease--especially in pregnancy. Stress during pregnancy has been linked to preeclampsia, high blood pressure, low birth weight and premature delivery. You can't add more hours to your day, so what can you do to relieve stress and improve your odds of a healthy pregnancy and postnatal recovery? According to studies, take up a prenatal yoga practice.
In 2005, a team of researchers (Narendran, Nagarathna, Gunasheela, Nagendra) investigated the effectiveness of yoga on pregnancy outcomes. They hypothesized that stress management in pregnancy using prenatal yoga therapy as a tool would improve pregnancy outcomes when compared with standard obstetric management. The sample consisted of 169 women in the yoga group and 166 women in the control group, all between 18 and 20 weeks of gestation.
The prenatal yoga practice assigned included physical postures, breathing, and meditation, practiced for one hour a day from the date of entry into the study until delivery. The non-yogi control group walked for 30 minutes twice a day. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that the practice of yoga during pregnancy is not only safe--but effective in stress management and improved labor and delivery outcomes.
In the prenatal yoga group, the number of low-birth preterm babies and incidents of preterm labor were significantly lower than the group of walkers, as was pregnancy induced hypertension, with no increased complications.
Miltress is a part of life, but it can also lead to serious disease--especially in pregnancy. Stress during pregnancy has been linked to preeclampsia, high blood pressure, low birth weight and premature delivery. You can't add more hours to your day, so what can you do to relieve stress and improve your odds of a healthy pregnancy and postnatal recovery? According to studies, take up a prenatal yoga practice.
In 2005, a team of researchers (Narendran, Nagarathna, Gunasheela, Nagendra) investigated the effectiveness of yoga on pregnancy outcomes. They hypothesized that stress management in pregnancy using prenatal yoga therapy as a tool would improve pregnancy outcomes when compared with standard obstetric management. The sample consisted of 169 women in the yoga group and 166 women in the control group, all between 18 and 20 weeks of gestation.
The prenatal yoga practice assigned included physical postures, breathing, and meditation, practiced for one hour a day from the date of entry into the study until delivery. The non-yogi control group walked for 30 minutes twice a day. The results of this study supported the hypothesis that the practice of yoga during pregnancy is not only safe--but effective in stress management and improved labor and delivery outcomes.
In the prenatal yoga group, the number of low-birth preterm babies and incidents of preterm labor were significantly lower than the group of walkers, as was pregnancy induced hypertension, with no increased complications.
