Abstract
The main objective of this study is to investigate the effects of yoga in prevention of pregnancy complications in women at high risk. The pregnancy complications that will be investigated are preeclampsia (PE), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), gestational hypertension (PIH), intrauterine fetal death (IUFD), and placenta abruption (PA). The design includes a yoga and a control group with thirty subjects (n=30 for each group) at high risk of developing pregnancy complications matched for the risk type in each group. Inclusion criteria are pregnant women: 1) with bad obstetric history, or 2) below 20 years of age or above 35, or 3) with history of pregnancy complications among blood relatives: sister, mother, and grandmother. Primary outcome variables are the incidence and severity of pregnancy complications in each group and pregnancy outcomes. We anticipate significant improvements in pregnancy outcomes of the yoga groups and significantly lower incidence of pregnancy complications in the yoga group. The study is being conducted at St. John’s Medical College and Hospital in Bangalore, India. Doppler velocimetry measures of umbilical and uterine arteries, maternal blood pressure, protein in maternal urine, maternal blood variables (which can be categorized as: (1) uric acid and platelet count, (2) Cytokines Interleukin-6 (IL-6), IL-1B, and IL-10, (2) circulating soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1), which binds placental growth factor (PlGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and (3) plasma adiponectin), stress measures (Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and Heart Rate Variability (HRV)), and pregnancy outcomes (fetal weight, fetal height, Ponderal Index, Apgar Score). Subjects between 8 to 12 weeks of pregnancy are recruited from St. John’s Medical College and Hospital and other maternity institutions in the surrounding area through media advertisements and physician referral networks. Subjects will be randomized into either yoga or the control group while being matched for pregnancy high risk type. Yoga group receives three 1-hour sessions of simple yoga practices per week from 13th week of gestation to 28th week. The control group receives standard antenatal treatments. To address the ethical issue surrounding this design and increase compliance, we offer a free yoga course to the subjects in control group three months after their deliveries.
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