Development and validation of a yoga module for women in postpartum phase

A BSTRACT Background: Postpartum health challenges such as weight retention and depression significantly impact maternal well-being. Yoga has been proposed as a holistic intervention, but a validated yoga module for postpartum women is lacking. This study aimed to design and validate a structured yoga module for managing postpartum weight retention and depression. Methods: A yoga module was developed from traditional yoga texts, contemporary scientific literature, and existing postpartum yoga recommendations. A total of 34 practices were initially screened. A panel of 43 yoga and medical experts assessed and rated the module using a Likert scale. Content validity ratio (CVR) was calculated for each practice, and practices reaching CVR above 0.60 were retained. Results: The experience in the field of yoga for the 43 experts was 12.60 ± 8.60 years. Of the 34 practices initially screened, 25 were retained after validation. The panel included yoga and maternal health professionals. The overall content validity index (average of CVRs for all selected practices) was 0.78, indicating high expert consensus supporting its applicability for postpartum health interventions. The 1-hour final module includes 25 practices, and 9 practices with CVRs lower than 0.60 were excluded from it. Conclusion: The validated yoga module could be useful for women undergoing the postpartum phase. However, it needs to be tested through high-quality randomized controlled trials for efficacy before wider application.