The Effect of Yoga on Anxiety, Depression, and Stress in the Course of Pregnancy Period: A Meta-analysis Study

This meta-analysis study was conducted to determine the level of effect of yoga applied during the prenatal period on anxiety, depression, and stress. For this study, research was conducted by screening the last 5 years of studies in PubMed, Web of Science, EBSCOhost, Google Scholar, and YOK Thesis Center databases from February to June 2024. After reviewing the studies, seven researches were included in the study. The quality assessment of the studies was conducted using the quality assessment tool prepared according to the Randomized Controlled Trial design by The Joanna Briggs Institute. CMA Ver. 2 was used for data synthesis. The data were synthesized using meta-analysis and narrative synthesis methods. According to the results of the meta-analysis, it has been determined that yoga applied during the prenatal period is effective in reducing anxiety levels (SMD: -0.730, 95% CI: -1.287 to -0.173; <i>Z</i> = -2.567, <i>P</i> = 0.010, <i>I</i> ² = 79.498%). However, it was found that prenatal yoga did not have a statistically significant effect on depression (SMD: -2.137, 95% CI: -4.405-0.132; Z= -1.846, <i>P</i> = 0.065, <i>I</i> ² = 97.722%) and stress levels (SMD: -4.861, 95% CI: -10.861-1.139; Z= -1.588, <i>P</i> = 0.112, <i>I</i> ² = 98.569%). It is observed that yoga applied during the prenatal period is effective in reducing anxiety levels, but not effective in reducing depression and stress levels.