Preparation for Conception and Antenatal Yoga: A Scientific Approach

The journey to parenthood is a significant life event, and many couples are turning to holistic practices like yoga to optimize their chances of conception and support a healthy pregnancy.

Yoga and Fertility: A Growing Body of Evidence

While specific studies directly linking yoga to increased fertility are limited, there’s compelling evidence suggesting that yoga can positively impact factors influencing fertility:

Stress Reduction: Chronic stress can interfere with fertility. Yoga's stress-reducing benefits, supported by countless studies, can indirectly enhance fertility potential.
Hormonal Balance: Some research indicates that yoga may help regulate hormones, including those involved in reproductive health.
Improved Ovarian Function: Preliminary studies suggest yoga might positively influence ovarian function.

Antenatal Yoga: A Holistic Approach to Pregnancy

Antenatal yoga has gained popularity as a way to support both physical and mental well-being during pregnancy. Research supports its benefits:

Reduced Pregnancy Discomfort: Studies have shown that prenatal yoga can alleviate common pregnancy discomforts like back pain, fatigue, and mood swings.
Improved Birth Outcomes: Some studies suggest a correlation between prenatal yoga and shorter labor, reduced need for interventions, and increased satisfaction with the birth experience.
Enhanced Postpartum Recovery: Yoga can help new mothers recover physically and emotionally after childbirth.

The Integrated Approach to Antenatal Yoga

Asana or Postures

Physical exercise in the form of gentle stretches and postures can be helpful in the management of stress and other associated conditions or symptoms accompanying pregnancy, such as gestational hypertension or diabetes, mood instability, musculoskeletal discomfort, aches, and weight gain. Studies conclude that regular physical exercise has maternal and fetal advantages that outweigh risks and recommend at least 30 minutes of exercise, most days of the week for the prevention and treatment of conditions associated with inactivity, such as gestational diabetes and hypertension.

Pranayama or Voluntary Regulated Breathing

Pranayama activates the parasympathetic nervous system, mainly by stretching of lung tissue and the vagal nerves. This leads to a physiological response characterized by a decrease in heart rate, blood pressure, metabolic rate, and oxygen consumption. Deep breathing also increases neuroplasticity, defined as the reorganization of neural pathways as an adaptive response. Studies reveal an increase in neuroplasticity in those who perform yoga, thereby improving concentration, intelligence quotient scores, and motor control.

Relaxation

Mind-body practices that cultivate general health, diminish distress, and increase self-awareness. Relaxation techniques may be particularly effective in addressing both the physical and psycho-emotional aspects of pregnancy and labor. Techniques such as deep relaxation and Yoga Nidra (Yogic sleep) are particularly effective during pregnancy for physical and mental relaxation. Women demonstrated reductions in psychological tension, heart rate, skin conductance, respiration, and cortisol levels, and increased respiratory sinus arrhythmia.

Aims and objectives of Antenatal Yoga

To improve maternal health and fetal well-being.
To reduce stress and anxiety in pregnant women.
To help manage pregnancy related complaints such as morning sickness.
To reduce the complications of pregnancy.
To enhance the possibility of normal labor.
To increase the strength, flexibility and endurance of muscles needed for childbirth.

Effects of Yoga in Pregnancy

A study published in the journal Fertility and Sterility found that women who practiced yoga experienced a significant reduction in stress levels, a key factor in fertility.
Another study demonstrated that prenatal yoga can reduce anxiety and depression symptoms, common during pregnancy.
Research indicates that women who practice prenatal yoga are more likely to have a spontaneous vaginal birth compared to those who don't.

Studies investigating changes in prenatal disorders for high-risk pregnant women after 12- or 16-week of yoga interventions were consistent with fewer women in the yoga group developing preeclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension than those in the control group. Pregnancy-related low back, pelvic, or leg pain is a common pregnancy problem. More than two thirds of women experience low back pain and almost one-fifth experience pelvic pain. Regarding pregnancy-related pain, studies found a positive correlation between yoga intervention and decreased pain level. According to their findings, yoga can significantly decrease lumbar pain and gradually reduce pain intensity for pregnant women who report limbo pelvic pain. Yoga intervention was also shown to relieve leg pain and back pain for depressed pregnant women and healthy pregnant women.

Yoga plays an important role in enhancing the quality of interpersonal relationships and quality of life of pregnant women. The results showed that women in the yoga intervention groups had significantly improved relationships and quality of life compared with participants in the control groups. In addition, yoga can help reduce various negative psychological effects of pregnancy such as anxiety, depression, anger, and stress. State anxiety and depression were significantly relieved in response to a 20-minute yoga session.

Yoga is defined as a tool for achieving positive health. Yoga practiced by pregnant women seems to reflect this positive health on the fetus. Yogic practices integrate the body, mind and spirit. They bring harmony and a positive attitude. Yogic practices will help pregnant women to have correct posture, flexibility of spine, improve their breathing capacity, and manage stress. It helps to build immunity, inner strength, improves control over body and mind. Yoga exercises relieve edema (fluid retention) and cramps, which are more common in the last months. They influence the position of the baby and turn it in advance if needed. They strengthen the abdomen, which helps stimulate bowel action and appetite. Yoga helps to reduce nausea, morning sickness and mood swings. They focus on relieving tension around the cervix and birth canal. They focus on opening the pelvis to make labor easier and quicker. (Normal delivery) Raising the level of energy while also helping in slowing the metabolism to restore calm and focus.

Yoga During Childbirth

Relaxation therapies for pain management in labor have also become popular as women are seeking alternatives to traditional treatment approaches, including analgesics and anesthesia, which can be invasive and are sometimes associated with negative side effects for both the mother and infant.

Labor pain is a subjective and multidimensional experience that varies according to each woman’s individual perceptions of and reactions to nociceptive information during labor and is influenced by psychosocial, cognitive, and physiological factors.

The effects of yoga on labor limited their scopes to the duration of labor and mode of delivery, respectively. Compared with the control group, women in the yoga group demonstrated significantly shorter durations of labor during the active stages and in terms of total duration, but showed no significant differences in the second stage of labor. One study showed a lower rate of emergency Caesarea sections in the yoga group than in the control group. Yoga may be effective in the reduction of negative symptoms associated with pregnancy and birth.

Postnatal Yoga

Postnatal Changes

Human physiology is significantly altered during pregnancy and in the postpartum period. Involution, is the term given to the process of reproductive organs returning to their pre-pregnant state. Immediately following the delivery, the uterus, and the placental site, contracts rapidly to prevent further blood loss. This rapid uterine contraction can lead to abdominal pain or cramps after childbirth. At this point, the uterus has an increased tone, feels firm, and weighs 1000g, and at the end of the first week, it weighs 500g, and by six weeks, it weighs approximately 50g. The lochia is the vaginal discharge that originates from the uterus, cervix, and vagina. The lochia is initially red and consists of blood and fragments of endometrial tissues and mucus and lasts 1 to 4 days. It slowly reduces and can last up-to 5 weeks. The systemic blood pressure which starts to rise during the third trimester returns to pre-pregnancy values at 16 weeks postpartum. Flatulence or constipation, loss of body fluids, laxity of abdominal wall, and hemorrhoids The pigment changes accompanying pregnancy (melasma and linea nigra) usually disappear by 6 to 8 weeks. The woman who had undergone the stress and strain of the labor needs some time to recover completely. Even after birth, the child is dependent on the mother, hence increasing the responsibility to nourish herself as well as nurturing the child too. In order to bring the woman to her pre-pregnancy health, she needs to be advised of a certain regimen. This is composed of Ahara-the food and nutrition, Vihara-the physical activities, and Richard-the mental activities.

Yoga can help in Postnatal period

Restoring the uterus, abdomen and the pelvic floor, relieving upper back tension and relieving breast discomfort. Thus, Yoga brings about stress reduction and helps to maintain Antenatal, Post-natal Care and reducing occurrence of complications through a balanced effective blood flow in the Uterus placenta circulation.

Yoga restores balance at all levels; physical, mental, emotional & intellectual.