Effects of Yoga exercise on anxiety and fetus growth in pregnant women with small for gestational age fetus

Objective: To investigate the effect of yoga on anxiety and fetal weight of pregnant women carrying fetus small for gestational age (SGA). Methods: In this retrospective analysis, a total of 186 pregnant women with SGA fetus in our hospital from January 2015 to December 2017 were enrolled in this study. Among them, 90 patients received routine check-up were included in the control group, and the other 96 patients who had professional yoga exercise were included in the observation group. The differences of anxiety scale scores and fetal weight between the two groups before and after intervention were compared. Results: There was no significant difference in scores of anxiety scale (SAS) between the two groups before intervention. After intervention, the SAS score of pregnant women in intervention group was (46.48 +/- 3.79) was significantly lower than that in control group (60.13 +/- 4.25). There was also significant difference in fetal growth trajectory between the two groups, with a significant increase of 1021.36 g in the intervention group compared with 795.62 g in the control group (P<0.05). Furthermore, single regression analysis showed that average gestational weeks (r=0.064. P=0.011), yoga exercise (r=0.043, P<0.001), forceps use (r=0.338, P<0.001) and conversion to cesarean section (r=0.431, P<0.001) showed a significant cor-relation with anxiety and fetus growth in pregnant women carrying SGA fetus. Multiple regression analysis showed that yoga exercise (P<0.001) was selected as independent variables in the multiple regression model of anxiety and fetus growth in pregnant women with SGA fetus. Conclusion: Yoga can effectively reduce the anxiety of pregnant women with small gestational age fetus and good for the growth and development of the fetus.

Automated summary

Yoga exercise has a positive effect on reducing anxiety and promoting fetal growth in pregnant women with small gestational age fetuses.