Online Mother and Baby Yoga for Preterm-Born Infants and Their Mothers in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: To examine the effectiveness of online mother and baby yoga(O-MBY) on the motor development of preterm infants,and anxiety, postpartum bonding,and QOL of their mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Mother-infant pairs(MIPs) were enrolled in the prospective quasi-randomised controlled trial. Infants whose gestational ages were between 320/7-366/7 weeks,and completed corrected ages of 6 weeks with their mothers who have proper internet access were included. The infants with any neurological/genetic/metabolic/orthopedic diagnosis,and mothers who have any restriction for exercises were excluded. 37 MITPs(out of 75) matched the criteria, were divided into control(n=18) and yoga(n=19) groups. The yoga group received O-MBY for 6-weeks,once a week for 1-hour as a group session by the researcher physiotherapist. Control group was followed by standardized routine care. Assessments were conducted via a videoconference platform as before and after. Motor development of the infants was evaluated with Alberta Infant Motor Scale(AIMS),and recorded for reassessment.The mothers were assessed with State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI),Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire(PPBQ),and World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Short Form(WHOQOL-BREF). Results: 29 MIPs(15 yoga,14 control) completed the study.Statistically significant differences were found between the groups in terms of AIMS total score,state anxiety,PPBQ,psychological and environmental subdomains of WHOQOL-BREF(p<0.05). In intragroup analyses, there was a significant improvement in AIMS total scores of both groups(p<0.001).AIMS percentile value, trait anxiety,PPBQ,and all subdomains of WHOQOL-BREF showed improvements only in the yoga group(p<0.05). Conclusions: The results indicate that O-MBY may support the motor development of preterm infants and maternal-infant health, especially during the pandemic.Randomized controlled trials to investigate long-term outcomes should be considered.
Keywords: yoga, preterm infant, motor development, postnatal anxiety