Prenatal Yoga Training

Prenatal yoga typically includes physical yoga poses, or asanas, breathing techniques, or pranayama, and meditation practice. The prenatal asanas are meant to increase strength and flexibility to make both pregnancy and labor more physically comfortable. The pranayama techniques are practiced to help calm and connect the mind and body to facilitate a peaceful birthing process. Meditation is also a calming technique that allows for better focus and less anxiety during pregnancy, labor and throughout life.

Features

Although every prenatal yoga class will include different asanas and pranayama practices, there are fundamentals that generally permeate any yoga class. Most classes will begin with a meditation session in order to calm and focus the mind. Yoga asanas, or the physical poses, will follow meditation. In a prenatal class, these poses are typically gentle and focus on flexibility and strength in the muscles most taxed by pregnancy and labor. A second meditation session will follow the asanas to quiet the mind and reflect on the class. Pranayama, or breathing techniques, may be practiced during meditation or separately. Deep, easy breathing will also be emphasized during practice of the physical poses. Finally, many prenatal yoga classes encourage practicing daily mindfulness, or awareness of your own thoughts, feelings and environment, as a method of decreasing stress and enjoying each moment.

Mental Benefits

According to a study published in 2007 in the Archives of Women's Mental Health, stress and negative mood during pregnancy increase your risk for birthing problems and postpartum depression. The study examined the effects of a mindfulness-based stress reduction program in women in the last half of their pregnancies. Women who received the intervention exhibited significantly lower stress and less negative mood than did the control group.

Physical Benefits

A study published in 2010 in Biological Research for Nursing measured the effects of a yoga and mindfulness course on sleep in pregnant women. Women who began the program in their second trimester experienced fewer awakenings, less awake time and less perceived sleep disturbances than they had prior to the intervention. A study published in 2005 in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine divided a large group of women into a control group that walked for 30 minutes twice per day and an experimental group that attended a prenatal yoga class once per day. The experimental group experienced fewer pregnancy complications, including intrauterine growth retardation and pregnancy-induced hypertension, or high blood pressure.

Birth Benefits

A 2008 publication in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice studied the effects of a prenatal yoga program and found that the experimental group experienced higher levels of maternal comfort during and 2 hours post-labor, as well as less labor pain than the control group. The experimental group also had a quicker first stage of labor and a shorter total birthing time. The 2005 study published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine also examined the effects of prenatal yoga on labor. There were significantly fewer preterm births and low-weight births in the yoga group compared to the control group.

Contraindications

According to the "Yoga Journal," there are certain yoga poses that pregnant women should avoid. Most inverted poses that involve positioning the pelvis above the heart should not be performed during pregnancy as they draw blood away from the uterus. Avoid high-intensity asana sequences, especially if they involve jumping from one pose to another. Use caution with asanas that involve a back-bend as they could cause overstretching of the skin and abdominal muscles. As you progress toward late pregnancy, you should also avoid yoga asanas that involve lying supine, or on your back. According to an article published in 2003 in Anesthesia and Analgesia, the weight of the baby in this position can press on major blood vessels and restrict blood flow to the mother's heart.