Effects of Prenatal Mindfulness-based Childbirth Education on Child-bearers' Trajectories of Distress: a Randomized Control Trial

Overview

Journal BMC Pregnancy Childbirth

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Gynecology & Obstetrics

Date 2020 Oct 16

PMID 33059638

Citations 3

Authors

Marissa D Sbrilli

Larissa G Duncan

Heidemarie K Laurent

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: The perinatal period is a time of immense change, which can be a period of stress and vulnerability for mental health difficulties. Mindfulness-based interventions have shown promise for reducing distress, but further research is needed to identify long-term effects and moderators of mindfulness training in the perinatal period.

Methods: The current study used data from a pilot randomized control trial (RCT) comparing a condensed mindfulness-based childbirth preparation program-the Mind in Labor (MIL)-to treatment as usual (TAU) to examine whether prenatal mindfulness training results in lower distress across the perinatal period, and whether the degree of benefit depends on child-bearers' initial levels of risk (i.e., depression and anxiety symptoms) and protective (i.e., mindfulness) characteristics. Child-bearers (N = 30) in their third trimester were randomized to MIL or TAU and completed assessments of distress-perceived stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms-at pre-intervention, post-intervention, six-weeks post-birth, and one-year postpartum.

Results: Multilevel modeling of distress trajectories revealed greater decreases from pre-intervention to 12-months postpartum for those in MIL compared to TAU, especially among child-bearers who were higher in anxiety and/or lower in dispositional mindfulness at baseline.

Conclusions: The current study offers preliminary evidence for durable perinatal mental health benefits following a brief mindfulness-based program and suggests further investigation of these effects in larger samples is warranted.

Trial Registration: The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for the study is: NCT02327559 . The study was retrospectively registered on June 23, 2014.

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Effects of prenatal mindfulness-based childbirth education on child-bearers' trajectories of distress: a randomized control trial.

Sbrilli M, Duncan L, Laurent H BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2020; 20(1):623.

PMID: 33059638 PMC: 7559171. DOI: 10.1186/s12884-020-03318-8.

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