Zahra Azizah Danistya, Lilik Herawati, Herdika Ayu Retno Kusumasari, Budi Prasetyo, Sakinah Nuzuliya Izza, Mohd Nahar Azmi Mohamed
Up to 20 % of mothers worldwide who have recently given birth experience postpartum depression. In Indonesia, the risk of postpartum depression was 57.4 to 65 % according to the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). Symptoms of depression are accompanied by high blood cortisol levels. Postpartum yoga and postpartum classes are synergistic interventions combining physical activity and social support. This study investigates whether postpartum yoga combined with postpartum classes can effectively prevent postpartum depression and reduce blood cortisol levels. The design employed was a quasi-experimental pretest-post-test control group design. Intervention was carried out over 4 weeks with 3 groups: the combination of yoga + postpartum classes (n = 12), the postpartum classes only (n = 14), and no intervention (controls) (n = 12). All participants had an EPDS score ≥ 5, indicating that the mothers experienced risk of mild postpartum depression symptoms. EPDS and cortisol showed significant differences of pretest and post-test scores in the combined yoga and postpartum class intervention group (EPDS: p = 0.002, cortisol: p = 0.005), and in the postpartum class alone (EPDS: p = 0.013), but not significant in biological parameters (cortisol: p = 0.124), while in the control group, it was not significant (p≥ 0.05). The combination of yoga and postpartum classes has shown efficacy in managing depression and reducing cortisol levels in postpartum mothers. © 2026. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, CC BY, which allows others to freely distribute the published article, with the obligatory reference to the authors of original works and original publication in this journal.
Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia; Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Indonesia; Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Malaya, Malaysia
