Fetal and maternal responses to yoga in the third trimester

AbstractObjective: The primary purpose of this study was to examine maternal and fetal responses to a typical, moderate-intensity yoga session in healthy pregnant women during the third trimester using continuous monitoring.Methods: This prospective observational study in low-risk, pregnant women used the Monica AN24 Abdominal ECG wireless maternal-fetal monitor to measure fetal heart rate, maternal heart rate, and uterine activity during a prenatal yoga session. Sessions included 4 time periods: (1) 20-minute rest, (2) 50 minutes standard prenatal yoga, (3) 10-minute meditation, (4) 20-minute recovery. Data were continuously recorded throughout the entire session, stored at 0.25-second intervals, and then averaged over 5-minute intervals. To evaluate changes over time, overall means for the four time periods (rest, yoga, meditation, recovery) were compared using one-way ANOVA with repeated measures. Post-hoc pairwise comparisons (Tukey’s) were used to probe significant differences between the four time p...