Journal of Yoga & Physical Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

The effect of Cognitive Behavior Therapy and Yoga Therapy for Pregnant Women

Vijayalakshmi Anbu

The present article highlights the effect of cognitive behavior therapy and yoga therapy for pregnant women by understanding the current scenario of Indian health system. The sample was a group of primi gravidas (women undergoing first pregnancy) from third month till the date of delivery. A scale to measure the pregnancy wellbeing was constructed for the study by the investigator. In that study there were 72 items related to the pregnant women’s wellbeing. These 72 items were developed by the investigator. The scale focused the demographic variables of respondents namely age, qualification, occupation, nature of work, hours of work, income, religion, nativity and nature of family structure. The reliability of the scale was Cronbach’s alpha reliability r=0.59, by parallel method of reliability r=0.61 and using split-half method reliability is r=0.62. In the Tamil version the reliability was found to be 0.81. Hence purposive sampling method was adopted. Of the 450 pregnant women who attended the counseling session and answered the scale 290 had a high score in perceived the well-being and 160 pregnant women scored low. Out of 160, 106 pregnant women gave willingness and they formed the “experimental and control group,” during the intervention program. In control group, there were 18 samples for yoga therapy, 15 samples for cognitive behavior therapy, 20 samples for yoga therapy and cognitive behavior therapy. The same number of samples in the respective group was taken as experimental group. The intervention programs include the introduction on parent craft, explanation of conception, week by week growth of the fetus, symptoms of pregnant women, problems faced by pregnant women, positive steps to follow, video on delivery (normal/ caesarean), with power point presentation, ‘change view’, queries, group discussion, homework and follow ups. In yoga therapy, 15 sessions consisting of pranayama, dhyana, yoga nidra and dynamic breathing exercises were conducted. Results showed that there was a significant difference between pre-post experimental groups in their perceived level of wellbeing in pregnant women.