Yoga during pregnancy can reduce stress and anxiety levels, the first study of its kind has found.

According to UK researchers, high levels of anxiety during pregnancy have been linked with postnatal depression, which can increase the risk of developing depression later in life.

Stress during pregnancy has also been linked to an increased risk of behavioural and developmental problems in children and mental health problems in mothers. It is also thought to increase the risk of premature births and having babies with a low birth weight.

The researchers set out to see whether yoga can reduce stress levels. This marks the first time the effects of yoga on pregnant women have been studied.

The study monitored the progress of 59 women who were pregnant for the first time. Some of the women took part in a prenatal yoga session once a week for eight weeks, while the other women had their normal prenatal treatment with no yoga.

The researchers found that even one session of prenatal yoga was found to reduce anxiety levels by over 30%. Stress hormone levels also fell by 14%. Similar results were recorded at the final session of yoga.

"It is surprising this has never been looked at before, we have long believed that it works but no research had been done to back up the theory. We have now gone some way to prove that it can help. It was not a small effect either. This has the potential to really help mothers who are feeling anxious about their pregnancy," the researchers said.

They pointed out that prenatal yoga involves relaxation and breathing techniques, as well as postures that pregnant women can achieve.

"There is a growing body of evidence that maternal antenatal anxiety may increase the risk of pre-term delivery and the likelihood of giving birth to a low birth weight child. If we can reduce these risk factors, and perhaps reduce the rate of postnatal mood disorders in mothers and negative health outcomes in their offspring, then that can only be a good thing," they insisted.

The researchers said that these results ‘confirm what many who take part in yoga have suspected for a long time'.

"There is also evidence yoga can reduce the need for pain relief during birth and the likelihood for delivery by emergency caesarean," the team from the Universities of Manchester and Newcastle added.

Details of these findings are published in the journal, Depression and Anxiety.

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