NCT05322161

Yoga in the NICU for Parents Study

Yoga in the NICU for Parents (YiN): a Clinical Pilot Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 51 (actual)
• Sponsor: Seattle Children's Hospital · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: —
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of this proposal is to test the efficacy of yoga as a mind and body intervention to decrease stress, anxiety, and depression in parents of critically ill neonates hospitalized in the Seattle Children's and University of Washington neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).

Detailed description

Preterm infants are often critically ill and require prolonged hospitalization in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The care of these infants is often regionalized so that specialized treatment can be performed in centers with specific expertise. An unintended consequence of regionalization of care is the physical and emotional isolation parents experience when a child is hospitalized far from family, friends, and work. As a result of these stressors, loss of parental control, autonomy, and concern for a child's wellbeing, nearly half of NICU mothers develop anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder, and this may persist for years. Helping parents cope with the birth and hospitalization of a preterm infant is critical for the parents' health and wellbeing, as well as for the optimal development of the child, as parental anxiety and depression may affect parent-child bonding and result in altered child development. The practice of yoga, which encompasses physical postures (asana), but also includes breathing techniques (pranayama), and meditation (dhyana), has proven benefits in many areas of medicine and wellness including stress management, mental and emotional health and promoting sleep. Given the positive effects on both physical and emotional health, these mind and body techniques are promising as a therapeutic modality by which parental stress, anxiety and depression could be reduced. This study is unique in that previous studies of yoga have not occurred in hospital settings and have not included subjects in an acute state of distress such as parents of critically ill hospitalized neonates. Furthermore, in the current COVID-19 environment it is important to explore ways to make yoga interventions available to families by remote access, and to test whether this approach is successful. This will be a randomized controlled pilot study to elucidate the optimal research strategy with which to implement mind and body interventions for parents of NICU patients, at two sites (University of Washington NICU and Seattle Children's Hospital NICU). We aim to enroll 40 NICU mothers and any of their interested partners in the study. We will approach parents after day 10 of infant admission to NICU and begin participation by day 14 of NICU admission. The investigators hypothesize that a combined program of breath work, physical practice and meditation will decrease parental stress, anxiety, and depression in the NICU.

Conditions

• Postpartum Depression
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Stress Disorder
• Prematurity

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	yoga classes	There will be 6 total yoga classes (one introduced per week for a 6 week period). Each yoga session will be divided into three components, which will vary in duration based on a curriculum designed specifically with the post-partum state of mothers in mind: 1. Yoga postures (Asana) = low impact gentle postures meant to be done individually 2. Breathing techniques (Pranayama) = deliberate modifications of breath such as rapid diaphragmatic breathing, slow/deep breathing, alternate nostril breathing, breath holding 3. Meditation (Dhyana) = guided meditation

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-09-29
• Primary completion: 2023-10-12
• Completion: 2024-01-31
• First posted: 2022-04-11
• Last updated: 2024-05-17

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: United States