BACKGROUND: Yoga is among the most recommended forms of physical activity during pregnancy. It is not clear, however, whether benefits of yoga outweigh the benefits of other forms of exercise during pregnancy. The aim of this article is to review randomized trials that have compared health effects of yoga to those of other forms of physical activity during pregnancy. METHOD(S): Medline database was searched using Medical Subject Headings (MESH) descriptors "yoga" AND "pregnancy". We only included randomized trials published after 1996 that compared yoga to other forms of exercise during pregnancy. RESULT(S): We identified 20 randomized trials on yoga during pregnancy. Only five of them included walking or standard prenatal exercise as a control intervention. There were less mental disorders, hypertensive diseases, gestational diabetes, intrauterine growth restrictions and preterm births in yoga groups compared to controls practising other forms of regular exercise. CONCLUSION(S): Yoga is a safe form of physical activity during pregnancy with numerous positive effects to maternal and foetal health. The benefits of yoga practising may outweigh the benefits of other forms of prenatal exercise.

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