Women's views and experiences of pregnancy yoga. A qualitative evidence synthesis

Abstract

Background: Pregnancy yoga is a holistic practice to support the physiological and psychological changes women experience in pregnancy, with the potential to be offered by mainstream maternity services. Evidence suggests benefits of pregnancy yoga are reduced anxiety and stress, enhanced mood and sleep, with reported improvements in physical and overall wellbeing. Women report that yoga in pregnancy assists in their birth preparation and self-efficacy in labour, with improved labour and birth experience. To date, a Qualitative Evidence Synthesis (QES) of qualitative studies of women's experiences of pregnancy yoga has not been undertaken and accordingly, the literature lacks a high-level synthesis of women's first-hand accounts.

Methods: This qualitative systematic review aims to synthesise and present new evidence about women's views and experiences of pregnancy yoga. Qualitative studies reporting women's views and experiences of practising pregnancy yoga as a sole intervention, were eligible for inclusion. Systematic searches of eight academic databases, AMED, ASSIA, CINAHL, EMBASE, MEDLINE, MIDIRS, PsycInfo and Web of Science, accompanied by extensive searches of Grey Literature, and evidence libraries, took place in May 2022. The methodological quality of included studies was formally evaluated, independently, by two reviewers using an adapted quality assessment tool. Data extraction followed and thematic synthesis, using the Thomas and Harden 2008 framework, was the validated method for the development of six analytical themes.

Results: Seven studies, providing the experiences of 92 pregnant women, were included in the review. The methodological quality of the studies was mixed, with three of the seven scoring highly and two scoring medium for weight of evidence. The three key synthesised themes were: Equilibrium; Personal Autonomy in Healthcare; and Connection. There were six analytical subthemes: intuitive knowing, embedding the practice of yoga practice, practical toolkit, holistic care, baby bonding and peer social support.

Conclusion: Synthesis of pregnant women's voices identified what women want - easy access to the holistic benefits of pregnancy yoga; what they recommend - pregnancy yoga provided as mainstream maternity support and what should be provided - pregnancy yoga for all women, not only those who can afford to pay; Paying attention to what women identify as important, brings us closer to a woman-centred maternity service.

Keywords: Antenatal yoga; Experiences; Maternity yoga; Pregnancy yoga; Prenatal yoga; Qualitative evidence synthesis; Systematic review; Views; Yoga.