Impact of Mind-Body Interventions on Blood Pressure in Antenatal Women with Pregnancy-Induced Hypertension in a Selected Tertiary Care Hospital

Objectives Pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH) is a leading cause of maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality worldwide. Although pharmacological management is fundamental in treating PIH, concerns regarding drug side effects, polypharmacy, and limited accessibility in low-resource settings have prompted growing interest in safe, cost-effective non-pharmacological adjuncts for blood pressure control. Mind-body intervention (MBI), encompassing mindfulness breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, offers a non-pharmacological approach to blood pressure management. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MBI on blood pressure among antenatal women with PIH admitted to a selected tertiary hospital in Mangaluru, India. Material and Methods A quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control-group design was adopted. Sixty antenatal women with PIH (systolic BP ≥140 mmHg or diastolic BP ≥90 mmHg, gestational age ≥20 weeks) were recruited using non-probability purposive sampling and allocated equally to an intervention group (n = 30) and a control group (n = 30). The intervention group received a structured MBI comprising 10 min of mindfulness breathing and 20 min of progressive muscle relaxation daily for seven consecutive days; the control group received routine antenatal care. Blood pressure was measured using a calibrated sphygmomanometer at baseline (pre-test) and after seven days (post-test). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, paired t-tests, independent t-tests, and Chi-square tests at a 0.05 significance level. Results In the intervention group, mean post-test systolic blood pressure (119.00 ± 7.70 mmHg) and diastolic blood pressure (76.33 ± 4.13 mmHg) were significantly lower than pre-test values (144.00 ± 5.47 mmHg and 94.00 ± 4.02 mmHg, respectively; p = 0.001). Post-test systolic (119 vs. 135.3 mmHg) and diastolic (76 vs. 89.6 mmHg) blood pressures were significantly lower in the intervention group than in the control group ( p = 0.001). A significant association was found between blood pressure scores and education (χ 2 = 31.17, p = 0.001) and family type (χ 2 = 16.73, p = 0.002) in the intervention group. Conclusion Mind-body intervention comprising mindfulness breathing and progressive muscle relaxation was effective in significantly reducing systolic and diastolic blood pressure in antenatal women with PIH. MBI should be integrated into routine antenatal nursing care as a safe, low-cost, non-pharmacological adjunct for blood pressure management in PIH.