The effect of relaxation therapy on preterm labor outcomes. Does relaxation education in anxious primigravid Iranian women influence adverse pregnancy outcomes?: a randomized controlled trial. Effect of integrated yoga on stress and heart rate variability in pregnant women. Massage therapy effects on depressed pregnant women. Music therapy to relieve anxiety in pregnant women on bedrest: a randomized, controlled trial. Psychological factors in preterm labor and psychotherapeutic intervention. The effect of participating in the labor preparation classes on maternal vitality and positive affect during the pregnancy and after the labor.
To examine the effect of relaxation on preterm labor outcome.
                Quasi-experimental, with women who experienced preterm labor randomly assigned to a control or experimental group. The experimental group was to do a daily relaxation exercise. A third group was added to the study: women who were originally assigned to the relaxation group but were unable to adhere to the daily practice. Final data were analyzed for three groups: control (n = 40), experimental (n = 44), and nonadherent (n = 23) participants.
                Women were referred to the study from physician offices and a hospital-based obstetric triage clinic in the Northwest.
                Total sample was comprised of 107 women with singleton gestations, documented contractions with cervical change, and intact membranes.
                The experimental group was instructed in a progressive relaxation exercise. The participants were given tapes of the exercise and instructed to do it daily.
                Study outcomes included gestational age at birth, rate of pregnancy prolongation, and birth weight.
                The outcome variables were analyzed using analysis of covariance, with the preterm labor risk score entered as a covariate to compensate statistically for group differences. A positive response to the relaxation intervention was found: The experimental group had significantly longer gestations and larger newborns when compared to the control and nonadherent groups.
                Relaxation therapy made a difference in preterm labor outcome. Women who practiced relaxation had larger newborns, longer gestations, and higher rates of pregnancy prolongation. Given the low cost of the intervention, it should be offered to all women at risk for preterm labor. Maternal anxiety and stress are found to be predictors of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight and prematurity.
                The aim of the study was to determine whether relaxation education in anxious pregnant Iranian women in their first pregnancy affects selected pregnancy outcomes, including birth weight, preterm birth, and surgical delivery rate.
                A total of 110 obstetrically and medically low-risk primigravid women in Iran with a high anxiety level demonstrated by Spielberger's State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were randomly assigned into experimental and control groups.
                In this randomized controlled trial, the experimental group received routine prenatal care along with 7-week applied relaxation training sessions, while the control group received only routine prenatal care. Anxiety and perceived stress were measured by pre-educational and post-educational intervention. Data related to pregnancy outcomes include birth weight, gestational age at birth, and type of delivery.
                Significant reductions in low birth weight, cesarean section, and/or instrumental extraction were found in the experimental group compared with the control group. No significant differences were found in the rate of preterm birth.
                The findings suggest beneficial effects of nurse-led relaxation education sessions during the prenatal period. This intervention could serve as a resource for improving pregnancy outcomes in women with high anxiety. To study the effect of integrated yoga practice and guided yogic relaxation on both perceived stress and measured autonomic response in healthy pregnant women.
                The 122 healthy women recruited between the 18th and 20th week of pregnancy at prenatal clinics in Bangalore, India, were randomized to practicing yoga and deep relaxation or standard prenatal exercises 1-hour daily. The results for the 45 participants per group who completed the study were evaluated by repeated measures analysis of variance.
                Perceived stress decreased by 31.57% in the yoga group and increased by 6.60% in the control group (P=0.001). During a guided relaxation period in the yoga group, compared with values obtained before a practice session, the high-frequency band of the heart rate variability spectrum (parasympathetic) increased by 64% in the 20th week and by 150% in the 36th week, and both the low-frequency band (sympathetic), and the low-frequency to high-frequency ratio were concomitantly reduced (P<0.001 between the 2 groups). Moreover, the low-frequency band remained decreased after deep relaxation in the 36th week in the yoga group.
                Yoga reduces perceived stress and improves adaptive autonomic response to stress in healthy pregnant women. Eighty-four depressed pregnant women were recruited during the second trimester of pregnancy and randomly assigned to a massage therapy group, a progressive muscle relaxation group or a control group that received standard prenatal care alone. These groups were compared to each other and to a non-depressed group at the end of pregnancy. The massage therapy group participants received two 20 min therapy sessions by their significant others each week for 16 weeks of pregnancy, starting during the second trimester. The relaxation group provided themselves with progressive muscle relaxation sessions on the same time schedule. Immediately after the massage therapy sessions on the first and last days of the 16-week period the women reported lower levels of anxiety and depressed mood and less leg and back pain. By the end of the study the massage group had higher dopamine and serotonin levels and lower levels of cortisol and norepinephrine. These changes may have contributed to the reduced fetal activity and the better neonatal outcome for the massage group (i.e. lesser incidence of prematurity and low birthweight), as well as their better performance on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment. The data suggest that depressed pregnant women and their offspring can benefit from massage therapy. To explore the effect of music therapy on anxiety alleviation for antepartal women on bedrest in China.
                One hundred and twenty patients recruited from one tertiary hospital in Changsha city, China were enrolled in a randomized controlled trial. Women in the experimental group received music therapy for 30 minutes on 3 consecutive days. Usual care participants had a 30-minute rest on 3 consecutive days. Variables included anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), and physiological responses (vital signs, fetal heart rate). Descriptive statistics, t tests, chi tests, Wilcoxon rank sum tests, and Pearson correlation analyses were used to analyze the data.
                Anxiety levels decreased and physiological responses improved significantly in the intervention group, which was provided with music therapy while on bedrest.
                Carefully selected music that incorporates a patient's own preferences may offer an inexpensive and effective method to reduce anxiety for antepartal women with high risk pregnancies who are on bedrest. nan Pregnant women predispose to physical and emotional diseases. Vitality and positive affect are against the depression and low energetic mood Exercise and physical activities in pregnancy have short and long term consequences for mothers and their growing fetus and affected in mood regulation. Respiratory and relaxation skills could decrease stress, pain and use of analgesics during labor.
                In this study, 117 primigravida and multigravida women (59 women in case and 58 in control groups) were enrolled. Women in case group participated in delivery preparation classes since 20 weeks of pregnancy for 8 sessions. The control group was just received routine pregnancy care. The education was about pregnancy and delivery, physical exercises and relaxation skills. Questionnaires of vitality and positive affect toward the labor were completed three times: before intervention, after the 8(th) session and after delivery to 2 weeks later by an interview. Data analyzed using SPSS16 software and repeated measurement.
                There was a significant difference in vitality and positive affect regarding type of delivery before and after intervention and after delivery in case group(p < 0.0001).There was no significant difference in vitality and positive affect scores after delivery and after intervention (p < 0.083, p < 0.545). There was significant difference in vitality and positive affect scores regarding between case and control groups after the intervention and after the delivery (p < 0.001, p < 0.0001).
                Considering the results of this study, it could be recommended that all pregnant women should contribute in delivery preparation classes to improve their mood, confidence, vitality toward labor.
According to the results of this review, there is some evidence that relaxation during pregnancy reduces stress and anxiety. However, there was no effect on PTL/PTB. These results should be interpreted with caution as they were drawn from included studies with limited quality.