Detailed Description:
The study will be a single-blind, prospective, randomised, controlled, clinical trial, with
parallel assignment. Investigators intent to analyse labour patterns and outcomes in
population of pregnant women which will be divided in a group that will practice yoga and a
group that will not. Study will take place at the Department for Perinatology, University
Medical Centre Maribor in Slovenia, Central Europe. Both groups will receive standard
prenatal care. The intervention group will attend yoga classes 3 times a month. Yoga
intervention will be strictly designed, lasting 90 minutes, starting at 12-14 weeks of
gestation till delivery. Both groups are intended to give birth at the Department of
Perinatology, University Medical Centre Maribor, Slovenia, where we have around 2200
deliveries per year.
Maribor is a university and metropolitan city as well as an educational, cultural,
administrative, economic, financial, commercial and tourist centre of the north-eastern part
of Slovenia with around 95.000 inhabitants.
Recruitment process Participants will be informed about the study at their gynaecologist at
primary health care level in Maribor, Slovenia. Primary level gynaecologists will direct
participants. Women at 12-14th week of gestation will approach the research stuff at the
reception of Department of Perinatology, University Medical Centre Maribor. Participants will
be introduced to the project Yoga in pregnancy. Then they will be escorted by the staff to a
private room, where the study will be explained in details. Participants will be screened
using written protocol. Qualified pregnant women will have the opportunity to sign a informed
consent. When the informed consent is signed, the recruitment process will be completed.
Randomization Investigators will use simple randomisation of pregnant women in two groups:
yoga and control. The selection (yoga or control) will be printed and placed in opaque
envelopes, which will be kept and locked in a cabinet. Recruited pregnant women will be given
an ID code and permit to pick one of the available envelopes to determine the group
selection.
Blinding The outcome assessors will be blind for group selection: the physicians, midwifes,
nurses and hospital staff.
Intervention The yoga group will receive standard care, plus yoga intervention on average 3
times a month lasting 90 minutes, beginning at 12 -14th week of gestation to the end of
pregnancy. The goal is that a woman completes 12 sessions. The control group will receive
standard prenatal care. The yoga practice will be conducted according to yoga system of the
author Swami Maheshwarananda, named "Yoga in Daily Life" by well - trained, certified yoga
teacher. Standard care for both groups include regular check-ups by the gynaecologists.
Four categories of yoga intervention will be offered to the study group:
deep relaxation practice, yogic postures, breathing exercises, meditation and visualisation
exercises. Longer relaxation: 7-10 minutes, lying postures on the left side of the body is
performed in the beginning of the practice. Two shorter relaxation exercises lasting 2-3
minutes are performed between yogic postures and at the beginning of the meditation and
visualisation. Yoga postures will strengthen the body core and pelvic floor muscles.
Meditative exercises include visualization, guided imagery and sound resonance techniques
that supports the emotional bonding with the unborn baby. Participants will be asked to
visualize the fetus in the uterus, the umbilical cord and the placenta. Then they will be
guided to imagine the blood flow from their bodies into the placenta, through the umbilical
cord, and bring nourishment, accompanied by positive emotions to their fetuses.
