The Effect of Yoga on Mental Health and Trauma in Pregnant Women

This study aims to investigate the effects of prenatal yoga exercises on psychological health and the perception of traumatic birth in pregnant women. The study will evaluate whether a structured yoga program can reduce anxiety, improve psychological resilience, and decrease the perception of birth-related trauma during pregnancy and postpartum periods. Study Design: A pre-post test matched group model will be used to investigate the effects of yoga exercises. The study includes an intervention group receiving prenatal yoga training in addition to standard birth preparation education, and a control group receiving only the birth preparation education. Population and Sample: The study will be conducted with pregnant women applying to the obstetrics outpatient clinic of a women's and children's hospital. Eligible participants will be over 18 years of age, over 16 weeks pregnant, have a planned pregnancy, and no diagnosis of high-risk pregnancy. Exclusion criteria include hypertension, gestational diabetes, short cervical length, and low-lying placenta. A power analysis (Type I error of 0.05, Type II error of 0.20, effect size = 0.80) determined the required sample size as 26 per group, increased to 62 in total to account for potential dropouts.