Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2019 Oct 10;19(1):346.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-019-2503-4.

Assessing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs on mental health during pregnancy and early motherhood - a randomized control trial

Wan-Lin Pan  1 , Chiung-Wen Chang  2 , Shin-Ming Chen  2 , Meei-Ling Gau  3
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Assessing the effectiveness of mindfulness-based programs on mental health during pregnancy and early motherhood - a randomized control trial

Wan-Lin Pan et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: The process of entering motherhood is highly stressful for women, with 15-85% of new mothers experiencing postpartum blues or depression. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting program in improving psychological health during the postpartum period.

Methods: This research was a randomized controlled trial with single blinding. Recruitment began after the participating hospital granted formal approval. A total of 74 women between 13 and 28-weeks gestation were allocated either to the intervention group or to the comparison group. The intervention program included a series of eight, 3-h classes held once weekly and 1 day of 7-h silent meditation. Psychological health was assessed at baseline and 3-months postpartum.

Results: Significant differences in stress and depression were observed in both groups over time. Stress scores and depression scores were significantly better in the intervention group than in the comparison group at 3-months postpartum (F = 7.19, p = .009 and F = 7.36, p = .008, respectively). No significant difference between the groups was identified for mindfulness scores at 3-months postpartum.

Conclusions: The intervention program effectively reduced postpartum self-perceived stress and depression, suggesting that this program provides acceptable and long-term benefits to women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The teaching and practice of mindfulness meditation and parenting education during pregnancy may help reduce stress and depression in pregnant women as they transition into parenthood.

Trial registration: The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for this study is: NCT03185910 . The study was retrospectively registered on 14 June 2017.

Keywords: Depression; Mindfulness; Postpartum; Pregnancy; Stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CONSORT diagram of all participants at T1 and T2
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Santrock JW. Life-span development. (5th Ed.). Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark; 1995.
    1. Cowan PH, M. Family transitions (family research consortium: advances in family research) Hillside, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum; 1991.
    1. Grote NK, Bledsoe SE. Predicting postpartum depressive symptoms in new mothers: the role of optimism and stress frequency during pregnancy. Health Soc Work. 2007;32(2):107–118. - PubMed
    1. Staneva AA, Bogossian F, Wittkowski A. The experience of psychological distress, depression, and anxiety during pregnancy: a meta-synthesis of qualitative research. Midwifery. 2015;31(6):563–573. - PubMed
    1. Togher KL, Treacy E, O’Keeffe GW, Kenny LC. Maternal distress in late pregnancy alters obstetric outcomes and the expression of genes important for placental glucocorticoid signalling. Psychiatry Res. 2017;255:17–26. - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data