Abstract Objective To examine The effect of Yoga on maternal stress in high risk pregnancy. Design Randomised controlled trial.

Setting Community-based study at St. Johns Medical College and Hospital, Bangalore. Population Women with high risk pregnancies who were having complications such as Hypertension, Pre Eclampsia, Diabetes, Obese, genetics, age factor etc. Methods The Yoga group was given simple yogic practices and the control group had standard antenatal care. Main outcome measures The main outcome measure was stress assessed by using Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). Results A total of 68 pregnant women, 38 in the control group and 30 in the intervention group, completed the study. The stress level was measured during 12th, 20th and 28th week. The result showed that there was a significant difference in the stress level in the Yoga group having significantly reduced scores at the 2nd follow-up (28th week of pregnancy) as compared to the control group (t:-2.48, p: 0.02*; p<0.05). The results of the RMANOVA showed that there was a significant decrease (F: 4.29, p: 0.016; p<0.05) in the Perceived Stress in the yoga group as compared to the control group where the stress level has increased. Conclusion The findings suggest that Yoga intervention during high risk pregnancy showed a significant decrease in stress level and is safe practice. It is not only cost effective option but also has proved to be feasible and safe option to practice during high risk pregnancy Key words: High risk pregnancy, maternal stress, yoga.