A preliminary randomised control trial of the effects of Dru yoga on psychological well-being in Northern Irish first time mothers

Background: the transition to motherhood can be stressful, especially for first time mothers. Recent research has shown that yoga can be effective for enhancing psychological well-being. Objectives: the purpose of this study was to establish if a postpartum Dru yoga intervention improves psychological well-being in first time mothers. Design: a randomised controlled study was conducted. Setting and participants: first time mothers were recruited from a Sure Start Community Centre and included in the study if they had a baby aged between 6 weeks to one-year-old. Exclusion criteria were the presence of sciatica, bulging discs, heart disease or whiplash and if they already practiced yoga. Methods: participants were randomised into a Dru yoga group (n= 16) who received a one-hour Dru yoga session each week for 4 weeks and a 20-minute DVD for practice at home. The control group (n= 16) who did not receive an intervention. Baseline and follow up measures of perceived stress, mood and coping were assessed in each group. Results: a repeated measures factorial Analysis of Variance showed that in comparison to the control group, the Dru yoga intervention group had improved psychological well-being as indicated by reductions in stress, negative affect, and dysfunctional coping and increases in problem focused coping at follow up (P < 0.05). Conclusion: the current study shows that Dru yoga is beneficial for the psychological well-being of first time mothers. Further research is needed using large scale replication studies with a longer follow up period and including multiparous women. This study extends the support for yoga with postpartum mothers.