Mindful Pregnancy: Meditation, Yoga, Hypnobirthing, Natural Remedies, and Nutrition – Trimester by Trimester

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In further efforts to increase feasibility and accessibility of this intervention, Duncan and colleagues [ 33] created a condensed, 2.5-day weekend childbirth preparation workshop based on MBCP called The Mind in Labor (MIL). In the first report on their pilot RCT of MIL effects, Duncan et al. found greater improvements in childbirth self-efficacy and depression symptoms associated with MIL compared to treatment as usual (TAU) at 6-weeks post-birth. This offers a promising starting point for evaluating potential longer-term effects of this brief intervention.

Townshend K, Jordan Z, Stephenson M, Tsey K. Townshend K, et al. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2016 Mar;14(3):139-80. doi: 10.11124/JBISRIR-2016-2314. JBI Database System Rev Implement Rep. 2016. PMID: 27532143 Radloff LS. The CES-D scale: a self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl Psychol Meas. 1977;1(3):385–401. Zhang X, Li Y, Wang J, Mao F, Wu L, Huang Y, Sun J, Cao F. Zhang X, et al. J Med Internet Res. 2023 Feb 10;25:e41298. doi: 10.2196/41298. J Med Internet Res. 2023. PMID: 36763452 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial. Continue to envision you and your child working together in harmony. Imagine your baby being born and the two of you gazing into each other’s eyes. You can use this visualization practice in the hospital or birthing center. It’ll also help you feel more excited and confident as you approach your due date. This study provides preliminary evidence that a brief mindfulness-based childbirth preparation program during pregnancy can shift child-bearers’ trajectories of distress through one-year post-birth. In particular, we found that participation in MIL (compared to TAU) predicted a decrease in the depressive symptom component of perinatal distress, with trend-level effects on an overall distress aggregate. We further found that those with the greatest mental health needs—i.e., pregnant people with higher anxiety and/or lower mindfulness at baseline—received the most benefit, with significant reductions in distress slopes and lower ending levels of postpartum distress compared to their TAU counterparts. Processes driving these findings and implications for perinatal mental health promotion are considered below.

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This mindful maternity book offers safe yoga, meditation, natural remedies and nutritional and hypnobirthing advice that are specifically tailored to each stage of pregnancy. This inspiring guide offers encouraging and practical advice that will help you understand your body, embrace change and fully prepare you for becoming a mum. Walking meditation is one of the most mindful ways to release tension and anxiety. Do it outside in nature for the most health benefits and relaxation. As you begin your stroll, breathe deeply. Notice the pure, fresh air filling your lungs and nourishing you and your child. Those in MIL with very low initial levels of anxiety showed ending distress that was similar to that of higher anxiety MIL participants, which represented higher ending distress compared to their TAU counterparts with initial low anxiety. This pattern may reflect the increased awareness that comes with beginning engagement with mindfulness practice. That is, individuals who are living on autopilot may simply not be aware of much of their internal experience and report lower symptoms. Being guided into greater awareness of what is going on with oneself somatically, and with one’s thoughts and emotions, may in itself bring about more reporting of symptoms for those who had little awareness prior to an MBI. It is possible that a longer period of follow up—particularly with those who continue in their mindfulness practice—would show an increase in wellbeing and lower symptoms following this initial dip. That is, the benefits of mindfulness practice for child-bearers who start with negligible symptoms may require a longer time scale of sustained practice to observe, and future research should examine this longer term trajectory. The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for the study is: NCT02327559. The study was retrospectively registered on June 23, 2014.

Gu J, Strauss C, Bond R, Cavanagh K. How do mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction improve mental health and wellbeing? A systematic review and meta-analysis of mediation studies. Clin Psychol Rev. 2015;37:1–12. Khoury B, Lecomte T, Fortin G, Masse M, Therien P, Bouchard V, Chapleau M-A, Paquin K, Hofmann SG. Mindfulness-based therapy: a comprehensive meta-analysis. Clin Psychol Rev. 2013;33(6):763–71. Kabat-Zinn J. Mindfulness-based interventions in context: past, present, and future. Clin Psychol Sci Pract. 2003;10(2):144–56. During the labour, as mentioned previously, it is best to remain at home as long as possible during early labour and continue daily life. Maybe even take a walk and when a contraction comes we should practise mindful breathing exercises Notice the air as we inhale, the breeze on our cheek and the birds singing. Mindfulness meditation can help enormously to take us through labour and delivery.Preacher KJ, Curran PJ, Bauer DJ. Computational tools for probing interaction effects in multiple linear regression, multilevel modeling, and latent curve analysis. J Educ Behav Stat. 2006;31:437–48.

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 Many of my students have noted that the simple act of feeling the space between their eyebrows—a suggestion I often give in class—can help their whole face open and soften. Try this relaxing body scan: Dunn, C., Hanieh, E., Roberts, R. et al. Mindful pregnancy and childbirth: effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on women’s psychological distress and well-being in the perinatal period. Arch Women's Ment Health (2012);15, 139–143. doi:10.1007/s00737-012-0264-4 Garland E, Gaylord S, Park J. The role of mindfulness in positive reappraisal. EXPLORE. 2009;5(1):37–44. Use the body scan to get in touch with your physical sensations. The scan will walk you through your entire body, isolating any pain or discomfort in your muscles that you may unknowingly hold. This exercise will welcome you to let go of the tension and relax your body.Social determinants and stress in particular have been associated with negative birth outcomes. This paper describes a brief intervention and results of MIP tailored to women who have significantly more stress due to race, poverty, homelessness, substance use treatment and other comorbid health risks including PTB.

Bernal, G., Bonilla, J., & Bellido, C. (1995). Ecological validity and cultural sensitivity for outcome research: Issues for the cultural adaptation and development of psychosocial treatments with Hispanics. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23(1), 67–82. Perceived stress was measured by the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS [ 52]) at T1-T4. The PSS is a widely used measure of global stress perception—i.e., the degree to which a person perceives life events to be stressful. Participants reported the frequency of 10 stress-related thoughts and feelings in the past month on a scale from 0 (“ Never”) to 4 (“ Very Often”). This scale is used as a continuous variable, with no set clinical cut-off, where higher scores indicate higher levels of stress. Participants’ scores on the PSS were collected at baseline through one-year postpartum ( α = .87 to .94). Five facet mindfulness questionnaire The Mindful Way through Pregnancy: Meditation, Yoga, and Journaling for Expectant Mothers by Anne Cushman, Mimi Doe, and Judy LeifBaer RA, Smith GT, Hopkins J, Krietemeyer J, Toney L. Using self-report assessment methods to explore facets of mindfulness. Assessment. 2006;13(1):27–45. Pain during labour– practising mindfulness during childbirth can give enormous benefits. Studies have shown that first-time mothers who fear childbirth are more likely to have longer labours and women can often feel overwhelmed by pain, by fear of not coping and of losing control, yet there are other women who somehow Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Lykins, E., Button, D., Krietemeyer, J., Sauer, S., Walsh, E., Duggan, D., & Williams, J. M. G. (2008). Construct validity of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire in meditating and nonmeditating samples. Assessment, 15(3), 329–342.