title: Yoga for high-risk pregnancy: a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Improvements in technology have increased the chances of survival for the micro-premature infant and the very low birth-weight infant but have significantly increased the financial burden of health care organizations. This economic burden has a significant impact on third-party payers and on society in general.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The study was designed to assess yoga therapy (YT) module on maternal stress level in high risk pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  In the present study, sixty-eight pregnant women (38 in the control group with standard antenatal care and 30 in the YT group) with 27.2 (5.2) years of mean age recruited from the outpatient services of medical college and hospital in Bangalore, South India, were participated. The study was a single-blind randomized controlled clinical trial. Perceived stress scale (PSS) was measured during the 12(th), 20(th), and 28(th) weeks of pregnancy. SPSS version 16.0 (Chicago, IL, USA) was used for all data analysis. When the data were found to be normally distributed, the RMANOVA were used to assess the PSS scores between the yoga and control groups. Significant values were set at P < 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was a significant difference in the PSS level of the YT group with significantly reduced scores at the second follow-up (28(th) week of pregnancy) compared to the control group (P = 0.02). Women who took part in the YT module reported significantly fewer pregnancy discomforts decrease in PSS (P = 0.02) than the control group where the stress level was increased (RMANOVA test using SPSS-16).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study suggests that the YT module can decrease the stress level during high-risk pregnancy complications. Thus, practicing YT during high-risk pregnancy is not only a cost-effective option but also a feasible and safe option. Additional well-designed studies are needed before a strong recommendation can be made.
authors.affiliation: Yoga and Life Sciences, S-VYASA University, Bangalore, India.
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Deshpande
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakhshani
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakshani
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nagarathna
authors.forename: T S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Ganpat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kurpad
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maskar
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Nagendra
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Sudheer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abbas
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Raghuram
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anura
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rita
authors.forename: Nh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ramarao
keywords: High-risk pregnancy; Maternal stress level; Yoga therapy module