The Effect of Hatha Yoga on Anxiety and Self-Efficacy of Primiparous Women in Labor

Anxiety during pregnancy has negative consequences on mother and fetus’ health and decreases mothers' self-efficacy. Today, yoga is used to control anxiety in a variety of contexts. This study aims at determining the effect of yoga on anxiety and self-efficacy of primiparous women. This randomized clinical trial was conducted in 2017 on 60 primiparous women aged 18-40 years old referred to Zahedan health centers. The participants were randomly assigned to two groups of intervention and control. During the weeks 26-27 of pregnancy 30 patients of the intervention group, received 15-12 sessions of Hatha Yoga exercises and 30 mothers of control group received normal care. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, pregnancy anxiety and self-efficacy. The pre-test was completed at week 26 and post-test at weeks 34-36 with two weeks in between; the data was analyzed using paired t-testMann-Whitney and chi-square tests, linear regression tests and SPSS 16. The mean of anxiety scores before and after the intervention in the experimental and control groups were (38.36 ± 4.86) and (37.26 ± 7.11), after intervention (24.87 ± 4.50), (37.84±6.4) and (P=0.48) respectively. The mean of self-efficacy score before intervention in the experimental and control group was (78.43 ± 24.7) and (62.69 ± 21.74) and after the intervention (124.45 ± 13.26) and (16.33±92.75) respectively, and (P=0.001). After the intervention, the mean anxiety score in the experimental group decreased and self-efficacy increased. It seems that Hatta Yoga hase been used to reduce anxiety and increase self-efficacy of firstpregnant women in the second and third trimesters.