Yoga Online Feasibility to Reduce PTSD

Summary

Each year more than 26,000 pregnancies in the United States end in stillbirth (late fetal death at \>20 weeks of gestation). A 2011 issue of the Lancet, dedicated entirely to stillbirth, recognized it as a "too-often-ignored" public health problem despite occurring once in every 160 pregnancies. The death of a baby is highly traumatic and can incite negative mental, emotional, and physical health consequences lasting years after the loss. Bereaved mothers with stillbirth have a 4-fold higher risk of depression and 6-fold higher risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These mental health consequences are likely to negatively affect subsequent pregnancies, many of which occur within the first year after loss (50-98%).

Inter-conception care is provided to women of reproductive age between pregnancies; however, few interventions focus on PTSD symptomatology and its related comorbidities in bereaved mothers. Treatment for bereaved mothers may include psychiatric medication and/or referral to support groups. Because bereaved mothers with stillbirth may have additional mental and physical health risks, pharmacological interventions are typically a first and sole line of treatment and may not sufficiently allay bereaved mothers' emotional distress. Moreover, women may be trying to conceive or may have already conceived and report reticence to taking medication. Additionally, support groups with little emphasis on coping may not be helpful for some grieving mothers.

Non-pharmacological approaches, such as yoga, may be an alternative option for bereaved women with stillbirth. Yoga has been established as an effective, safe, acceptable, and cost effective approach to improving mental health in a variety of populations, including pregnant and post-partum women. Yoga has also been used as a means to cope with PTSD associated with surviving a traumatic event (i.e., interpersonal violence, military veterans). The investigators are unaware of any studies that have explored yoga to reduce PTSD in bereaved mothers with stillbirth. Furthermore, online streaming yoga (on-demand videos played in the home) has recently grown in popularity and may address the unique barriers that women experiencing stillbirth may have. To reduce PTSD symptoms and its co-morbid conditions (i.e., anxiety and depression) the investigators propose to develop and test the feasibility and acceptability of a home-based, online streamed yoga intervention (www.udaya.com) for bereaved mothers with stillbirth.

Conditions

• PTSD

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Moderate Online yoga participation

Phase 1: Testing yoga videos for emotional regulation and self-compassion which will inform the selected videos for Phase 2 prescription Phase 2: 150 minutes of Online streaming yoga videos completed at home. Week 1/2 introductory videos that include short video clips breaking down each pose Weeks 3-12 increase in difficulty (all videos are appropriate for beginners)

BEHAVIORAL

Stretching and toning

Phase 1: Developing 12 week prescription for online control videos Phase 2: Online streaming stretching and toning videos completed at home which consist of a warm-up, 1 balance, 2 core, 2-3 upper body and lower body exercises, 6 stretches, cool-down

BEHAVIORAL

Low dose online yoga participation

Phase 1: Testing yoga videos for emotional regulation and self-compassion which will inform the selected videos for Phase 2 prescription Phase 2: 60 minutes of Online streaming yoga videos completed at home. Week 1/2 introductory videos that include short video clips breaking down each pose Weeks 3-12 increase in difficulty (all videos are appropriate for beginners)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institutes of Health (NIH)

  collaborator NIH

• National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

  collaborator NIH

• Arizona State University

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-04-30

Primary Completion

2019-06-30

Completion

2019-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations