Post-Caesarean Pranayama and Pain

February 5, 2026 updated by: Hafize Dağ Tüzmen, KTO Karatay University

The Effect of Post-Caesarean Section Pranayama Breathing Exercises on Pain and Postpartum Comfort: A Randomised Controlled Trial

This study aims to investigate the effect of pranayama breathing exercises on postoperative pain and postpartum comfort levels in women following caesarean section, with the objective of providing important evidence for the integration of non-pharmacological methods into postpartum care.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

100

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Undergone a caesarean section under spinal anaesthesia
  • Reported a post-operative pain level of at least 4 on the Numerical Rating Scale (NRS)
  • Knowledge of Turkish
  • Ability to communicate effectively with the research team
  • Volunteer to participate in the study and provide written consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having given birth by emergency caesarean section
  • Presence of pregnancy complications (e.g. pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, placenta praevia)
  • History of chronic pain or analgesic dependence
  • Requirement for admission to the intensive care unit in the early postoperative period
  • Need for additional surgical intervention
  • Development of significant intraoperative or postoperative complications
  • Refusal to exercise or intolerance to exercise
  • Failure to comply with study procedures
  • Withdrawal of consent
  • Incomplete follow-up
  • Development of a new medical condition during the study that could affect the results

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
No Intervention: control group
Experimental: Pranayama group
Behavioral: pranayama breathing exercises
In this study, a pranayama breathing exercise protocol lasting approximately 14-15 minutes will be applied, aiming to increase relaxation and physiological well-being. Participants will prepare for the exercise in a supported and comfortable sitting position, breathing through the nose. The protocol consists of 3 minutes of diaphragmatic breathing, 5 minutes of alternate nostril breathing (Nadī Shodhana), 3 minutes of Ujjayi breathing, and 3 minutes of long, slow exhalation techniques. The exercises will be conducted with one-on-one guidance by a trained researcher; participants' comfort and any signs of discomfort will be monitored, and the exercise will be terminated if necessary.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from Baseline Post-Cesarean Postoperative Pain Intensity
Time Frame: Pain assessments will be repeated at 6, 12, 24 hours postoperatively in both groups.

Postoperative pain intensity will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), a 10-cm horizontal line where 0 indicates "no pain" and 10 indicates "worst imaginable/unbearable pain." Higher scores indicate greater pain severity.

Pain scores will be recorded at baseline (preoperative) and at predefined postoperative time points. The outcome measure is defined as the change in VAS pain score from baseline.Pain will be assessed with a 10 cm visual analog scale "0" means no pain and "10" means unbearable pain. The assessment will be done before and at the end of the study.
Pain assessments will be repeated at 6, 12, 24 hours postoperatively in both groups.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Postnatal Comfort Level
Time Frame: Comfort assessments will be repeated at 6, 12, 24 hours postoperatively in both groups.

Postnatal comfort will be assessed using the Postnatal Comfort Survey, a validated instrument designed to evaluate physical, psychospiritual, sociocultural, and environmental comfort in the postpartum period.

Higher scores indicate greater postnatal comfort. Accordingly, the lowest score that can be obtained on the scale is 34, and the highest score is 170.
Comfort assessments will be repeated at 6, 12, 24 hours postoperatively in both groups.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

KTO Karatay University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

February 5, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

April 13, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 12, 2025

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 26, 2025

First Posted (Actual)

January 9, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 5, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pranayama

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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