Key result
Yoga cuts gestational hypertension risk ~62% vs standard care in high-risk pregnant women.
Why the study?
The effects of 20 weeks of yoga starting at the 16th week of gestation on hypertension incidence, cardiometabolic risks, and fetomaternal outcomes in women at risk of gestational hypertension were unstudied.
Does a 20-week structured yoga therapy program reduce the incidence of new-onset hypertension in pregnant women at risk for gestational hypertension?
RCT (n=234)
Single-blinded
Block randomization
No
Does a 20-week structured yoga therapy program reduce the incidence of new-onset hypertension in pregnant women at risk for gestational hypertension?
A 20-week yoga intervention significantly reduced the incidence of gestational hypertension and improved fetomaternal outcomes in high-risk pregnant women.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
Supports yoga programs for high-risk pregnancies to cut gestational hypertension; extends non-pharmacologic prevention options in prenatal care.
Gestational hypertension (GH) is associated with adverse cardiometabolic and pregnancy outcomes. Though yoga is known to be beneficial in pregnancy, the effects of yoga rendered for twenty weeks starting from 16th week of gestation in pregnant women having risk of GH on the incidence of hypertension, cardiometabolic risks and fetomaternal outcomes have not been studied. A randomized control trial was conducted on 234 pregnant women having risk of GH receiving standard antenatal care (Control group, n = 113), and receiving standard care + yoga (Study group, n = 121). Interventions were given for twenty weeks starting at 16th week of gestation. Baroreflex sensitivity (BRS), heart rate variability (HRV), insulin resistance, lipid-risk factors, and markers of inflammation, oxidative stress and vascular endothelial dysfunction (VED) were assessed before and after intervention. Incidence of new-onset hypertension, level of cardiometabolic risks at 36th week, and fetomaternal-neonatal outcomes in the perinatal period, were noted. The link of hypertension, pregnancy outcomes and cardiometabolic risks with nitric oxide (NO), the marker of VED was assessed by analysis of covariance, Pearson's correlations, and multilinear and logistic regressions. In study group, 6.61% women developed hypertension compared to 38.1% in the control group following 20-week intervention and there was significant decrease in risk of developing GH (RR, 2.65; CI 1.42-4.95). There was less-painful delivery, decreased duration of labor, increased neonatal birthweight and Apgar score in study group. Increase in total power of HRV (β = 0.187, p = 0.024), BRS (β = 0.305, p < 0.001), and decrease in interleukin-6 (β = - 0.194, p = 0.022) had significant association with increased NO. Twenty weeks of practice of yoga during pregnancy decreases the incidence of hypertension, improves fetomaternal outcomes, and reduces cardiometabolic risks in pregnant women having risk of GH. Decreased blood pressure, increased HRV, BRS and birth weight and decreased inflammation were associated with improved endothelial function. Trial registration: Clinical Trials Registry of India (CTRI), registration number: CTRI/2017/11/010608, on 23.11.2017.
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Karthiga et al. (2022) conducted an RCT in Risk of Gestational Hypertension (n=234). Yoga therapy (asanas and slow pranayamas) vs. Standard antenatal care alone was evaluated on Incidence of gestational hypertension (RR 2.65, 95% CI 1.42-4.95, p=<0.001). Yoga practice for 20 weeks significantly reduced the risk of developing gestational hypertension (RR 2.65) compared to standard care in pregnant women at high risk for the condition.
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