Hello there!, We are H.A.X. ( Hope C., Andrea H-A., Xochitl D) and we believe that as biomedical students we are not only suited, but well prepared to take on such a prestigious project such as this one. These past few months at school, we have focused on pregnancy. In our biomed class we have learned things such as what happens to the mother’s body during her nine months of pregnancy, what happens in each of the three trimesters, how the baby develops and so much more! We all believe that the topic of pregnancy in general is really interesting and as women we should know what will happen in our bodies.
We are going to be working with Austin Prenatal Yoga. Austin Prenatal Yoga’s founder; Lisa Young and she has been teaching yoga to the public for about 13 years. Lisa has over 5,000 hours of teaching experience and is also certified in vinyasa and power yoga. Lisa strides to use mindfulness and precision to unite and create a class that is challenging, balanced, and calming for the mother. She is honored that she is able to share the benefits of prenatal yoga with as many people as she can.
Working with Austin Prenatal Yoga we hope to encourage a more ethnically diverse group of women to take up prenatal yoga classes and also to spread awareness of the benefits of prenatal yoga and what effect yoga has on the body and the mind. After doing research we H.A.X. have come to the conclusion that there is not much ethnic diversity in the prenatal yoga classes at APY. Most pregnant women are not aware of the benefits yoga has, not only physically but mentally and how it can possibly make their labor easier and more comfortable for both the mother and the child. Women of other ethnicities are not as common in these beneficial organizations such as APY. Currently at APY there is a majority percentage group of caucasian who attend the class 81%. The other ethnic groups that attend Austin Prenatal Yoga classes include Indian 8%, Hispanic 7%, Asian 2%, African American 1%, Arab 1% and 1% other.
According to studies such as Yoga during pregnancy: effects on maternal comfort, labor pain and birth outcomes and Yoga during Pregnancy women who do yoga before giving labor have an overall easier and comfortable labor. In the first study mentioned 74 women were split into two groups (experimental and control) and one group was involved in an one hour yoga class weekly while the other group did not partake in yoga classes. The outcome of the study was that the experimental group (who participated in the yoga classes) was found to have a higher level of comfort after labor (and also 2 hours after labor) and experienced less labor pain. The experimental group also experienced a shorter duration in their total time of labor compared to the control group. In the second study mentioned, the results showed that the women that did yoga during pregnancy (Prenatal Yoga) showed a significantly lower discomfort, pain, and perceived stress as well as lowering the risk for birth complication such as low birth weight. We hope that you have taken away some things such as how prenatal yoga has so many benefits such as a faster labor in which the mother may feel less pain and discomfort.
We are interested in solving this problem because we as students attend yoga class at school once a week and we find it very beneficial. Our weekly yoga class consists of focusing on breathing, stretching and opening our muscles. Yoga helps us alleviate stress from school, calm us down and help us stay in shape. We think that if it helps us students relax it can help mothers to be as well. This problem draws our attention because it is important for a pregnant woman to be healthy throughout their whole pregnancy and yoga is a great way to get their body’s moving and and their minds relaxed so that the pregnancy can run smoothly. More women will find that yoga made their pregnancy and birth run smoother and enjoyable.
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I love how you guys describe what the Austins Prenatal Yoga is and how y’all want to solve the problem. I think that by solving the problem and becoming more diverse will really help the community plus the mothers by helping them become healthier possibly both mentally and physically. Y’all did a really good job on the blog post, good job! -Angelica G.