What are the benefits of Postnatal Yoga for the Mother?
Postnatal is a form of physical activity especially for new mothers in the postnatal period, and has many benefits in aiding them in their recovery and transition to life with a new baby. Postnatal yoga can typically be practiced at home or in a class, with or without babies present. This writing will explore some of the benefits of postnatal yoga for the mother.
One way that postnatal yoga can benefit the mother is by improving her mental health, and aiding in preventing issues such as postpartum depression and anxiety. A study done in 2022 by Sharma showed that different limbs of yoga, i.e. Dhyana (meditation), Asanas (postures), Pranayama (breathwork), etc. could considerably reduce depression symptoms in postnatal women. More recently, in 2025, Ozkan et al. found that Mother-baby yoga significantly reduced maternal depression, anxiety and stress in preterm infant mothers. Furthermore, yoga lowered mothers’ fragile infant perception, helping them to feel more confident about caring for their babies.
Another benefit of postnatal yoga for mums is help towards their recovery journey after pregnancy and birth, both mentally and physically. As we know, yoga can deliver great relaxation tools to its practitioners. It can help reduce stress and cultivate more awareness in the present moment, allowing the release of emotional ‘baggage’. With pregnancy and birth being such a huge and impactful change a woman goes through, and the maternity care system driving results that could be far improved, there appears to be a gap in focus towards the mums in the postpartum phase. Postpartum recovery is thought to extend well beyond the traditional six week period (Frijmersum et al., 2025), and yoga has the potential to empower mothers with effective tools to promote a healthy postpartum recovery, helping maternal wellbeing in the face of growing complexities of modern childbirth practices (Pandey et al., 2025).
Postpartum yoga has also been shown to benefit mothers by improving their chances and ease of breastfeeding. The Infant Feeding Survey in 2010 by McAndrew et al. found results that showed at 1 week postpartum, less than half of mums exclusively breastfed, and by
six months, levels of exclusive breastfeeding had lowered to below 1%. Breastfeeding can be an enjoyable experience for many mums, and the low rate could be due to a lack of breastfeeding self-efficacy. Thankfully, postnatal yoga has been shown to increase milk production in new mothers (Wulandari, Yani and Kundarti, 2024). Lactation relies on the secretion of two key hormones, prolactin and oxytocin.
yoga training in the third trimester until the postpartum period increases prolactin and oxytocin levels among primipara postpartum women (Astutik et al., 2024). These findings mean that mothers who choose to breastfeed can encounter less problems in doing so by practicing postpartum yoga.
Finally, another benefit of postpartum yoga for mothers is improvement of strength and other bodily functions like co ordination and balance. This can help mothers who wish to restart fitness journeys, or can simply help mums in day to day activities. Aydemir, Doner and Ugurlu (2025) found that increased blood flow and strengthening of the muscles with yoga in the postpartum period improves abdominal strength, muscle endurance, coordination and also provides flexibility and balance.
This writing has outlined some key benefits of postnatal yoga for mothers, covering benefits related to their mental health, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding and general strength and fitness levels.
References
Sharma, R. (2022) ‘A Review on Therapeutic Intervention of Yoga and Ayurveda in Post-Partum Depression’ Open Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. Available at:
Ozkan, T. K., Cigdem, Z., Kale, E. S., Kale, Y. (2025) The effect of mother-baby yoga on mother's depression-anxiety-stress levels, perception of fragile baby, and maternal bonding: A randomized controlled trial, Journal of Pediatric Nursing. Available at:
Zayël Z. Frijmersum, Eva van der Meij, Robert A. de Leeuw, Johannes R. Anema, Judith A.F. Huirne, Petra C.A.M. Bakker (2025) ‘Assessment of recovery after childbirth; a cross-sectional study’ European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. Available at:
Pandey, H. R., Tyagi, P. T., Thakre, S., Tiwari, M., Sharma, J.K. (2025) ‘Yogic Practices for Prenatal and Postnatal Care: A Holistic Approach to Maternal Health’, Sangyaharan Shodh. Available at:
Fiona McAndrew, Jane Thompson, Lydia Fellows, Alice Large, Mark Speed and Mary J. Renfrew (2012) ‘Infant Feeding Survey - UK, 2010’, Official statistics, National statistics, Survey. Available at:
Wulandari, S., Yani, E. R., & Kundarti, F. I. (2024). Differences in Postpartum Depression and Breast Milk Production in Postpartum Mothers After Implementing Postnatal Yoga . EMBRIO: Jurnal Kebidanan, 16(1), 71-78. https://doi.org/10.36456/embrio.v16i1.8171
Astutik RY, Pramono N, Susanto H, Kartasurya MI. (2024) ‘The effect of yoga training on postpartum prolactin and oxytocin levels in primipara women.’ J Med Life. Available at:
Aydemir G, Döner Şİ, Uğurlu M. (2025) ‘Effects of yoga exercise in the postpartum period on physical and psychological health’. J Controv Obstetr Gynecol Ped. Available at:
By Holly Burley
17/04/2026
Comments