Yoga during pregnancy:
During pregnancy, regular yoga practice was shown to have beneficial effects in a study of 335 women who were between 18 and 20 weeks of pregnancy. They were divided into two groups: the yoga group (n=169) practiced for an hour per day, and the control group (n=166) walked 30 minutes twice a day. Both groups practiced every day from the time they enrolled in the study to when they gave birth. The primary measurements for comparison were the baby’s birth weight and week of pregnancy at which birth was given. For the women who practiced yoga, birth weights of 2,500 grams or more were higher, preterm labor was lower, intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) and pregnancy induced hypertension (PIH) associated with IUGR was also lower in the yoga group. (58)