The Therapeutic Efficacy of Yoga in Hypertension during Pregnancy for Maternal Health – A Meta-Analysis of Clinical Trials

Introduction: Hypertensive pregnancy disorders increase the risk of stroke, placental abruption, and preterm labor, posing potential harm to both mother and baby. Until 2019, hypertensive disorders were responsible for 50% of deaths during maternity. Yoga is an exercise that combines physical postures, breathing exercises, and meditation which could alter bodily functions, such as the nervous system. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the efficacy of yoga for hypertension among pregnant women. Methods: The literature search was established through PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, and ClinicalKey, resulting in 476 articles. Through duplicate removal, 256 articles were screened based on title and abstract. 7 studies were assessed based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and 3 studies were selected for this meta-analysis Quality appraisal was done using RoB 2.0. Meta-analysis was done using RevMan 5.4. Results: Meta-Analysis using three studies with 362 participants suggests a significant reduction in Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) with an overall standardized mean difference of -1.58 mmHg and 95% confidence interval (95% CI: -2.17 to -0.99, P < 0.0001) compared to the control group, while the analysis focuses on the effect of yoga on Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) shows a pooled standardized mean difference of -1.8mmHg with a (95% CI: -3.95 to 0.34, P = 0.1) compared to control, indicating an insignificant result. Conclusion: Yoga is more likely to affect systolic blood pressure (SBP) than diastolic blood pressure (DBP) due to increased blood flow during exercise, with SBP changes being more noticeable than DBP changes.