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Yoga For Shorter, More Comfortable Labour: How Yoga Can Shorten Your Labour

I'm a great believer that Yoga in pregnancy can help you prepare for birth in body and mind. I've benefited from it myself twice and heard many ladies I've taught say what a difference it made to their birth experience.

Yoga helps you relax in pregnancy which benefits not only your well being but that of your baby too. When you are happy and relaxed endorphins and oxytocin can flow - both needed for efficient and more comfortable labour.


Yoga movements allow you to get to know your new pregnant body and what it's capable of. Learning to listen to your body and what it needs. Confidence and trust in your body's ability to birth your baby is key to positive birth.


Research also proves Yoga can improve the outcomes of pregnancy and childbirth.​ A recent study found that:


“yoga reduced the induction of labor, the episiotomy rupture, duration of labor, also had a significant effect on normal birth weight and delivery at the appropriate gestational age. There were significant differences between the first and second Apgar scores of the infants.”

Published 03 May 2021


A systematic review and meta-analysis in 2022 examined the characteristics and effectiveness of pregnancy yoga interventions.


"Twenty-nine studies with 2217 pregnant women were included for meta-analysis. Pregnancy yoga interventions reduced anxiety, depression and perceived stress. Yoga interventions also reduced duration of labour and, increased odds of normal vaginal birth and tolerance for pain. The quality of evidence was low to very low for all outcomes.
Twelve or more yoga sessions delivered weekly/bi-weekly had a statistically significant impact on mode of birth, while 12 or more yoga sessions of long duration (>60 min) had a statistically significant impact on perceived stress."

The researches concluded that,

"The evidence highlights positive effects of pregnancy yoga on anxiety, depression, perceived stress, mode of birth and duration of labour."

25 March 2022


I teach Pregnancy Yoga in Dorking, Surrey. My courses last 6 weeks and ladies can attend for as many terms as they wish, although many take my Hypnobirthing & Yoga for Birth course in their third trimester.



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