Effects of Yoga and Meditation on The Birth Process

Introduction: Today it is seen that women lose their birthing strength, give the control to healthcare personnel during labour and the rate of c-section or interventional labour is increasing. For this reason, the importance of yoga, meditation and breath awareness practices increases during pregnancy and birth. The study was carried out as a randomized control trial with the purpose of examining the impact of yoga and meditation during pregnancy and labour on the labour process.

Methods: The study was completed with 90 primiparous pregnant women in total, 30 in experimental group and 60 in control group. The data was collected using State Trait Anxiety Inventory, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire A, The Childbirth Self-Efficacy Scale Short Form, Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaire Version B and Visual Analogue Scale. Pregnant women in experimental group did yoga and meditation for 60 minutes 2 times a week for 10 weeks. Innatal period yoga and meditation practices were continued in experimental group during labour.

METHODS

Study design:

The present study was conducted as a randomized controlled study. The study was conducted on pregnant women who applied to the pregnancy school of an educational and research hospital on the Anatolian side of Istanbul province between October 2016 and May 2018, and who met the criteria for acceptance of the study.

Setting and samples:

All pregnant women attending the pregnancy school, who agreed to participate in the research, and met the research conditions within the study dates constituted the research population. The sampling of the study was created with the simple random method as the experiment and control group with individuals who met the criteria of the study and who were accepted to participate. In this respect, pregnant women, who were primiparous and between 20-36 gestational weeks, who had single fetuses, expected to give birth normally and spontaneously, with no pregnancy complications and systemic disease, and who could speak Turkish, were included in the study. Power Analysis was made by using the G\*Power (v3.1.7) Program to determine the sampling number of the study. According to Cohen's effect size coefficients and other calculations, it was assumed that the evaluations between the two independent groups would have a large impact size (d=0.50). It was also decided that there should be at least 26 people in the groups, and considering that there might be losses in the study process, 30 people were included in the experimental group, and 60 people in the control group, making 90 people in total.

For Randomization, when the experiment and control group were created, support was received from pregnancy school instructors and groups, and pregnant women were determined by using the method of envelope selection. Pregnancy school instructors asked the group volunteering to participate in the study to independently choose one of two blue or red colored envelopes. Those who chose the blue envelope formed the experiment group, and those that chose the red envelope were taken into the control group. The envelope selection process continued until the desired numbers were reached. The researcher was told advised of the groups to which subjects were included by the pregnancy school instructor only after the subjects were chosen.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* Pregnant women,
* Primiparous and between 20-36 gestational weeks,
* Single fetuses, expected to give birth normally and spontaneously,
* No pregnancy complications and systemic disease,
* Speak Turkish

Exclusion Criteria:

* Being unable to speak Turkish
* Having a history of serious illness that threatens life or because of these reasons.
* Currently or previously due to a serious mental weakness or illness
* Being diagnosed with a psychiatric diagnosis and being treated for this reason,
* Being multiparous,
* Multiple pregnancies, being in the gestational week less than 20 weeks and greater than 36 weeks,
* Having a diagnosis that constitutes an obstacle to physical activity