Effectiveness of antenatal yoga in reducing intensity of labour pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Yoga during pregnancy was found to be beneficial in various aspects of pregnancy including pain management during the time of labour. The current systematic review and meta-analysis aims to assess the effectiveness of antenatal yoga practices in reducing pain during the time of labour. METHODS: We searched electronic databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science, till January 2023. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) which measured the effects of antenatal yoga practices on pain management during labour were included. The main outcome was the pain intensity measured with any validated questionnaire. The methodological quality of included studies was evaluated by using a risk-of-bias assessment tool developed by the Cochrane Collaboration. For the effect size, standardized mean differences (SMDs) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were generated with a random effect model using R software (version 4.2.2). RESULTS: Eight studies including 576 antenatal women between the age of 14 and 40 years were included. Results of this meta-analysis showed that yoga is effective in reducing labour pain (SMD: −1.34 95% of CI: −1.86, −0.81) with significant heterogeneity among the studies (I(2) 73%, p < 0.0008). CONCLUSION: Antenatal yoga can be a promising intervention in the field of obstetrics to reduce the intensity of labour pain. However, we are still in need of RCT with a large sample size to confirm the reliability of the present meta-analysis.