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Meta-Analysis
. 2025 Feb 13;25(1):155.
doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-07286-9.

Effect of technology-supported mindfulness-based interventions for maternal depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis with implementation perspectives for resource-limited settings

Bekelu Teka Worku  1   2 , Misra Abdulahi  3 , Demissew Amenu  4 , Bruno Bonnechère  5   6   7
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Effect of technology-supported mindfulness-based interventions for maternal depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis with implementation perspectives for resource-limited settings

Bekelu Teka Worku et al. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal depression is pregnancy and childbirth-related depression during pregnancy (prenatal depression (PND)) or after delivery (postpartum depression (PPD)). It is a recognized global public health concern with extensive repercussions adversely affecting women's well-being and the developmental progress of infants. Mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) have been shown to be effective in maternal depression. Technology-supported MBI could be an effective preventive strategy for maternal depression, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where lack of important resources limits the accessibility to standard care. However, the limited available studies assessing the effect of technology-supported MBIs for maternal depression might be insufficient to reach a definitive conclusion. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the pooled estimated effect of technology-supported MBIs for maternal depression, identify available studies, and reveal applicable health technologies with MBIs.

Method: This study was conducted according to the PRISMA-P 2020 and the review protocol was registered in PROSPERO; CRD42024537853. The risk of bias was evaluated using the PEDro scale. The meta-analysis was done with R.

Result: Data from 18 articles, none from low-income countries (LICs), were included in the systematic review, representing 2,481 participants, 15 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The pooled effect size indicated that technology-supported MBIs had a positive effect on maternal depression (SMD - 0.55, 95% CI [- 0.70; -0.40], p < 0.001). The sub-group analysis showed that this intervention was effective in both PND (SMD = - 0.57, 95% CI [- 0.74; -0.39], p < 0.001) and PPD (SMD - 0.53, 95% CI [- 0.91; -0.15], p = 0.014).

Conclusion: Integrating technology-supported MBIs into maternal care is recommended to enhance maternal mental health. However, the lack of trials in LMICs may limit the generalizability and external validity of this finding and it is crucial to conduct further research, in the area to tailor intervention and maximize its effectiveness. Context-specific trial studies are pivotal for successful program adoption.

Keywords: Maternal depression; Meta-analysis; Mindfulness-based interventions; Perinatal depression; Postpartum depression; Prenatal depression; Systematic review; Technology.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Ethical approval and consent to participate were not required for this study as we used publicly available data. Consent for publication: not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow chart of study selection
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
PEDro analysis of the included articles. Green no risk of bias, yellow unclear and, and red risk of bias
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Summarized types of used technology along with the type of maternal depression, red colour is used for PND and green colour for PPD
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Pooled results of the change in maternal depression drawn from the included RCTs. MT (Monitoring training), MAT (Monitoring with an emphasis on acceptance training). MT and MAT are the two theoretical constructions that the mindfulness training programs were based on
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Bubble plot showing the relationship between the total number of sessions and the effect on depression for all the included studies. The size is proportion to the study weight
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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