Table 1.

Characteristics of studies according to FITT principle

Study ID	Country	Study type	Sample size	Gestation (weeks)	Intervention	Control	Outcome of interest	Main results	Frequency	Intensity	Timing	Type
Babbar et al. 2016	USA	RCT uncomplicated pregnancy	46 (23/23)	28–36 weeks	Yoga session	PowerPoint presentation	Mode of birth	NVB 65% yoga and 61% control	One time	One	60 mins	Poses, breathing, shavasana
Balaji et al. 2017	India	RCT gestational diabetes	151 (75/76)	24 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine treatment	Mode of birth	NVB 84% yoga 26% control	Daily	3 months taught if practiced daily availability of 91 sessions	60 mins	Loosening exercises, postures, deep relaxation technique, pranayama
Bershadsky et al. 2014	USA	Non-randomised control trial normal pregnancy	50 (38/12)	12–19 weeks	Yoga sessions	Usual activity	Depression Physiological stress	Cortisol levels lower post yoga and fewer depressive symptoms in yoga group	No information	No information taught sessions	90 mins	Hatha yoga
Bhartia et al. 2019	India	RCT low risk pregnant women	78 (38/40)	18–20 weeks	Yoga therapy	Routine physical activity	Perceived stress Mode of birth	Perceived stress reduced 31.75% in yoga group and increased 6.60% in control (p < 0.001). NVB 92% yoga and 90% control	Tri-weekly	36 sessions – 12 taught & 24 self-practice	50 mins	Loosening exercises, breathing, postures, deep relaxation
Bolanthakodi et al. 2018	India	RCT normal pregnancy	150 (75/75)	30 weeks	Yoga therapy	Standard antenatal care	Mode of birth Pain management	More NVB in yoga group (p < 0.037), duration of labour was significantly shorter (p < 0.001) Significant reduction in intravenous analgesic in yoga group (p < 0.045) and tolerance of pain was higher as shown by NPIS (p < 0.001) and PBOS scores (p < 0.0001)	Bi-weekly for 4 sessions and weekly for three sessions and self-practice tri-weekly	7 taught sessions & availability of 24–36 self- practice sessions	30 mins	Integrated approach to yoga therapy (IAYT)
Chen et al. 2017	China	RCT healthy pregnant women	94 (48/46)	16 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine prenatal care	Physiological stress	Prenatal yoga significantly reduced cortisol (p < 0.001)	Bi-weekly	40 taught sessions	70 mins	Postures, deep breathing, guided imagery, deep relaxation
Chuntharapat et al. 2008	Thailand	RCT normal pregnancy	74 (37/37)	26–28 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine nursing care	Pain management Duration of labour	No differences between groups for pethidine usage. Shorter duration of labour in yoga group	Bi-weekly taught and tri-weekly self-practice	6 taught sessions & 30–36 available self-practice sessions	60 mins	Education, postures, chanting om, breath awareness, dhyana, yoga nidra
Davis et al. 2015	USA	RCT symptoms anxiety/depression	46 (23/23)	28 weeks	Yoga sessions	TAU	Depression Anxiety	Prenatal yoga was associated with reductions in symptoms of anxiety and depression	Weekly	8 taught sessions and self-practice DVD	75 mins	Ashtanga Vinyasa system of yoga modified for pregnancy
Deshpande et al. 2013	India	RCT high-risk pregnancies	68 (30/38)	12 weeks	Yoga therapy	Standard antenatal care/prenatal stretching exercises	Perceived stress	RMANOVA showed a significant decrease (P = 0.02) in the PSS scores of the yoga group compared to the control group	No information	16 weeks	No information	No information
Field et al. 2012	USA	RCT depression	56 (28/28)	20 weeks	Yoga postures	Standard prenatal care	Depression Anxiety	Decreased depression scores (F = 82.40,p < 0.001) and decreased anxiety scores (F = 26.23, p < 0.001) in the yoga group	Bi-weekly	24 taught sessions	20 mins	Postures
Field et al. 2013	USA	RCT depression	92 (46/46)	22 weeks	Yoga postures	Social support	Depression Anxiety Physiological stress	Reduced anxiety and depression in both groups with no significant group difference and reduced cortisol pre/post yoga and pre/post social support	Weekly	12 taught sessions	20 mins	Postures
Gallagher et al. 2020	USA	RCT high-risk pregnancy on bedrest	79 (48/31)	23–31 weeks	Yoga sessions	Standard care and no yoga	Depression Anxiety	Perceived anxiety and depression overall scores lower in yoga group than in control group (p < 0.001)	Bi-weekly taught, video self-practice	Average of 7.46 (3–16) taught sessions, and 2 (0–24) self-practice video sessions	30 mins	Breathing, visulisation, adapted yoga moves, yoga nidra
Hayase et al. 2018	Japan	Non-randomised control trial uncomplicated pregnancy	91 (38/53)	20–23 weeks	Yoga sessions	Standard antenatal care	Perceived stress Physiological stress	PSS scores lower in yoga group at 20–23 & 28–31 weeks’ gestation. Salivary α-amylase levels in yoga group significantly decreased immediately after yoga	Weekly taught and daily self- practice	Average of 4 to 19 taught sessions and all women practiced yoga for > 15 min at home, at least three times a week based on the self-report	60 mins taught session and 15 mins self- practice	Warm-up, breathing exercises, postures, meditation
Jahdi et al. 2017	Iran	RCT normal pregnancy	60 (30/30)	26 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine midwifery care	Mode of birth Duration of labour Pain management	Duration of the second and third stages of labour significantly shorter in yoga group (p = 0.04 and 0.01 respectively). Caesarean section rate 13.3% in yoga group compared to 50% in control group. Analgesic use during first stage of labour showed no difference between groups (p = 0.2)	Tri-weekly taught & daily self-practice	33 taught sessions and possibility of 44 self- practice sessions	60 mins	Postures, chanting om, breath awareness, yoga nidra, dhyana
Kundarti et al. 2020	Indonesia	RCT normal pregnancy	59 (30/29)	20–32 weeks	Yoga sessions	Standard antenatal care	Anxiety Physiological stress	Average anxiety in the intervention and control group after intervention (M = 13.16) vs (M = 35.30) and average cortisol levels (M = 16.50) vs (M = 9.91)	Weekly	8 taught sessions	90 mins	Postures, breathing, meditation shavasana
Makhija et al. 2021	India	RCT mild hypertensive disorder pregnancy	60 (30/30)	Third trimester	Integrated yoga	Routine care	Duration of labour Mode of birth	Reduction in total duration of labour in yoga group (p = 0.011). 22 (73.3%) yoga group had vaginal delivery compared to 18 (60%) in control group	Tri-weekly	At least 4 weeks (12 sessions)	40 mins	Postures, breathing, meditation
Mitchell et al. 2012	USA	RCT depression	24 (12/12)	20 weeks	Yoga postures	Parenting education sessions	Depression	Depressive symptoms reduced to subclinical levels in 55% of yoga group compared to 11% of control group	Bi-weekly	24 taught sessions	20 mins	Postures
Mohyadin et al. 2020	Iran	RCT normal pregnancy	84 (42/42)	26–37 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine midwifery care	Anxiety Pain management Duration of labour Mode of birth	Anxiety lower in yoga group (p = 0.003). less pain at 4-5 cm in yoga group (p = 0.001). Shorter duration of labour in yoga group (p = 0.003)	Bi-weekly taught and tri-weekly home practice	6 sessions	60 mins	Postures, breathing, meditation
Munirekha et al. 2019	India	True-experimental post-test only control group design - uncomplicated pregnancy	30 (15/15)	24–32 weeks	Yoga sessions	Health education on antenatal care and future lactation	Mode of birth	NVB 80% yoga group compared to 40% control group	Weekly	Taught from 24 to 32 weeks until delivery	No information	Yogasanas
Narendran et al. 2005	India	Non-randomised control trial normal pregnancy	335 (169/166)	18–20 weeks	Yoga therapy	Walking 30 mins twice daily	Mode of birth	NVB 54% yoga group compared to 49% control group	Daily	Mean GA at delivery 38 weeks allowing for availability of 126 sessions	60 mins	Integrated approach of yoga therapy (IAYT) Taught then self-practice
Newham et al. 2014	UK	RCT healthy pregnant women	59 (31/28)	20–24 weeks	Yoga sessions	TAU	Anxiety Depression Physiological stress	Greater reduction in both anxiety and depression in the yoga group. Significant decrease in cortisol after yoga (0.15 [0.11]μg/dL vs. 0.13[0.10]μg/dL P = 0.003)	Weekly	8 taught sessions	1.5 h	Hatha yoga
Rakhshani et al. 2010	India	RCT normal pregnancy	102 (51/51)	18–20 weeks	Integrated yoga	Standard antenatal exercises	Quality of life	Between groups analysis showed significant improvements in the yoga group in the physical (P = 0.001), psychological (P = 0.001), social (P = 0.003) environmental domains (P = 0.001) of the WHOQOL-100	Tri-weekly	If until delivery estimated between 54 and 66 available taught sessions	60 mins	Lectures, breathing exercises, postures, meditation, deep relaxation
Rakhshani et al. 2012	India	RCT high-risk pregnancy	68 (30/38)	12 weeks	Integrated yoga	Standard care plus walking for half an hour mornings and evenings	Mode of birth	Lower rate of emergency c-section in yoga group 51.7% compared to 57.9% in control	Tri-weekly	28 taught sessions	60 mins	Breathing exercises, yogic postures, meditative exercises
Rong et al. 2021	China	RCT normal healthy pregnancy	64 (32/32)	18–27 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine prenatal care	Anxiety Depression Duration of labour Mode of birth	No statistically significant difference in post anxiety and depressions scores. Higher rate of vaginal birth (p = 0.039) and shorter duration of labour (p = 0.002) in yoga group	Tri-weekly	12 weeks (up to 36 sessions)	60 mins	Warm-up, postures, meditation
Ruqaiyah et al. 2020	India	Quasi-experimental pre/post with control	24 (12/12)	Third trimester	No information	No information	Anxiety	Lower anxiety in the yoga group post intervention (p = 0.002)	No information	No information	No information	No information
Satyapriya et al. 2009	India	RCT normal pregnancy	90 (45/45)	18–20 weeks	Integrated yoga	Standard prenatal exercise	Perceived stress	Perceived stress decreased by 31.57% in the yoga group and increased by 6.60% in the control group (P = 0.001)	Tri-weekly for first month then daily self- practice	1 month taught then self- practice, refresher every 4 weeks until 28 weeks then 2 weeks until 36 weeks. 16-week programme with availability of up to 92 sessions	120 mins taught, 60 mins self-practice	Lectures, breathing exercises, poses, meditation, deep relaxation
Satyapriya et al. 2013	India	RCT normal pregnancy	96 (51/45)	18–20 weeks	Integrated yoga	Standard antenatal exercises	Anxiety Depression Perceived stress	Anxiety and Depression reduced with improvement in pregnancy experience in the yoga group (P < 0.001)	Tri-weekly for first month then daily self- practice	16-week programme estimated up to 92 available sessions	120 mins taught, 60 mins self-practice	Lectures, breathing exercises, poses, deep relaxation, meditation
Uebelacker et al. 2016	USA	RCT depression	20 (12/8)	12–26 weeks	Yoga sessions	Mom-baby wellness workshops	Depression	Although both groups had reduced depression scores, yoga was preferred.	Weekly	9 taught sessions & self- practice	75 mins	Breathwork, warm-up, poses, relaxation, homework
Yekefallah et al. 2021	Iran	RCT normal pregnancy	70 (35/35)	26–37 weeks	Yoga sessions	Routine prenatal care	Duration of labour Mode of birth	Mean duration of labour was shorter in yoga group (p < 0.0001). 82.9% of the women in the yoga group and 65.7% in the control group had a natural delivery	Bi-weekly	Attended for 9–11 weeks (up to 22 sessions)	75 mins	Hatha yoga
Yulianti et al. 2018	Indonesia	RCT normal pregnancy	102 (51/51)	22–32 weeks	Yoga sessions	Not treated	Depression Anxiety	Mean level of anxiety and depression were lower in the yoga group at both two- and four-weeks post intervention (p < 0.001)	No information	1 month	No information	No information
Yuvarani et al. 2020	India	Quasi-experimental pre/pots with control depression and anxiety	30 (15/15)	16–20 weeks	Yoga sessions	Aerobic exercise	Depression	Aerobic exercise and yoga showed significant effect for reducing the symptoms of depression (P ≤ 0.001)	Weekly	3 months (up to 13 sessions)	20 mins	Breathing, postures