The Effect of prenatal yoga on anxiety, cortisol and sleep quality

Background Anxiety is a psychological problem that is often faced by women during pregnancy, especially women who are first pregnant. Psychological disorders that are too long will affect the condition of the mother, fetus, and outcomes. Prenatal yoga is a technique that has been adapted to the condition of pregnant women. Examination of psychological conditions such as anxiety through plasma cortisol biomarkers is needed and measuring sleep quality in pregnant women has not been much studied. Our study compared anxiety, plasma cortisol, and sleep quality in primigravida among pregnant women who received prenatal yoga interventions and received routine prenatal care. Methods randomized control trial test. We recruited all 59 healthy primigravida women with 20 to 32 weeks' gestation. Participants were divided into 2 groups randomly, the yoga intervention group (n = 30) and the control group (n-29). Yoga interventions are given every week for 8 weeks, the duration of the exercise is 90 minutes per session. Anxiety assessment uses state-trait anxiety inventory (STAI), plasma cortisol using ELISA, and sleep quality using PSQI conducted at the beginning of week 1 and end of week 8. Results the yoga intervention group had lower anxiety and blood cortisol levels than the control group (p