Until recently, assessing patient’s religious beliefs in medical settings was considered unnecessary or even inappropriate. But now a days claims about religion, spirituality and health have recently appeared with increasing frequency.Religion is a universal and widespread phenomenon, as it is the core of various cultures. It plays a major role in the way a woman perceives and prepares for her birthing experience. Each religion has its own values, beliefs and practices related to pregnancy. Pregnancy is generally thought to be a time of happiness and emotional well-being for a woman. However, for many women, pregnancy and motherhood increase their vulnerability to conditions such as depression, anxiety, stress etc. Religious orientation, beliefs and spirituality play an important role during pregnancy. As in all cultures, certain beliefs exist surrounding what facilitates a good pregnancy and its outcome, as well as negative sanctions.Many studies suggested that religious commitment shows positive associations with better mental health and physical health and pregnancy outcomes. But there are relatively few studies showing no effects or negative effect of religiosity on health and pregnancy outcomes. There are scant of the literature related to religious beliefs and its effect on pregnancy outcomes.So, today there is a strong need to have more research on examining the impact of religious beliefs on health outcomes of pregnant women.With this background the objective of this paper is to address key issues with regard to the effects of religious orientation/ beliefs, spirituality on the health and pregnancy outcomes of women.Overall, the general implications of this review are to underscore the importance of taking into account religious beliefs and spirituality over the course of pregnancy in order to adequately evaluate their effects on pregnancy outcomes. Despite somewhat inconclusive empirical evidence, because of difficulties encountered in studying the topic, this area of research needs further investigation. The authors have highlighted gaps in the literature and potential avenues for future research.
