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

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Another excellent way to incorporate mindfulness into your life is by practicing Yoga. Gentle Yoga poses can be highly beneficial for pregnant women, by increasing circulation and flexibility and even improving one’s ability to fall and stay asleep. When you add Yoga to your daily routine, you’ll be able to see immense benefits to your emotional and physical well-being. If you have any specific questions about whether certain Yoga poses are safe to practice during your pregnancy, talk to your OB. Use a mindfulness app 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 Austin M-P. Antenatal screening and early intervention for “perinatal” distress, depression and anxiety: where to from here? Arch Women’s Mental Health. 2004;7(1):1–6. af-form-298505444 button,#af-form-298505444 input,#af-form-298505444 submit,#af-form-298505444 textarea,#af-form-298505444 select,#af-form-298505444 label,#af-form-298505444 optgroup,#af-form-298505444 option{float:none;position:static;margin:0;}

Great Expectations classes offered to help expecting mothers and their partners learn more about pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding, and parenting. Articles and multimedia Teasdale JD, Segal ZV, Williams JMG, Ridgeway VA, Soulsby JM, Lau MA. Prevention of relapse/recurrence in major depression by mindfulness-based cognitive therapy. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2000;68(4):615–23. Dhillon A, Sparkes E, Duarte RV. Mindfulness-based interventions during pregnancy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Mindfulness. 2017;8(6):1421-1437. doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0726-x Engage your favorite sense and watch the worries of the world slip away. Be mindful about your sense of taste by enveloping yourself in the sweetness of a mango, the warmth of a hot cup of tea or the juicy crunch of a crisp apple. Indulge in your sense of sight by staring at a painting, watching dolphins jump in the ocean or gazing at a colorful sunset.

Staying in the moment

Significantly more self-efficacy, more positive expectations of their births and less fearful of giving birth after completing the programme. Duncan LG, Shaddix C. Mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting (MBCP): innovation in birth preparation to support healthy, happy families. Int J Birth Parent Educ. 2015;2(2):30–3. 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. pregnant women participating in MBCP during their 3rd trimester of pregnancy (12–28weeks gestation)

Depression was measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D [ 50]) at T1-T4. Participants rated their experience of various depression symptoms over the past week on the widely-used, 20-item self-report measure using a scale from 0 (“ Rarely or none of the time”) to 3 (“ Most or all of the time”). A score of ≥16 is used to indicate clinical levels of depression. The analyses in the current study utilize CES-D scores from baseline through one-year post-birth ( α = .80 to .89). Spielberger state-trait anxiety inventory – trait 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:

Mindfulness during delivery

At the post intervention (3rd trimester) assessment, women participating in the mindfulness group showed statistically significant decreases in state anxiety ( p<0.05) and negative affect ( p<0.04) compared with wait-list. Women participating in the mindfulness group that showed statistically significant changes in the expected direction were observed in the intervention group on all other variables. While changes in mindfulness increased somewhat from 5 to 9% at 3-month follow-up, between-group changes remained non-significant ( p=0.07). 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 Vieten C, Astin J. Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention during pregnancy on prenatal stress and mood: results of a pilot study. Arch Women's Ment Health. 2008;11(1):67-74. doi:10.1007/s00737-008-0214-3 Rallis S, Skouteris H, McCabe M, Milgrom J. A prospective examination of depression, anxiety and stress throughout pregnancy. Women Birth. 2014;27(4):e36–42.

One of the most noticeable benefits of mindfulness is that it helps you slow down and focus on the moment. Mindfulness-based interventions can reduce stress, improve coping skills and promote feelings of wellbeing. In fact, practising mindfulness on a daily basis may reduce pregnancy-related anxiety and depression, which can help you feel calmer and more connected to your body.We enrolled 35 women who self-identified as: non-white, Medicaid recipients, aged 25-35 years, with high school or less education. We found reductions in perceived stress, pregnancy specific stress, trait anxiety and depression and increases in mindfulness that sustained post-intervention at 2 and 7 months. Alongside multiple strengths of this study, including the RCT design and long-term follow-up period, there are limitations that should be considered. As a modestly scaled pilot study, this work is best framed as providing an essential foundation for a larger RCT to develop evidence-based recommendations. Small sample size restricts power for detecting effects, particularly smaller-sized effects such as would be expected for interactions, and both null and significant findings in the present study should be considered preliminary. Due to the schedule of funding for this project, the timing of the final assessment was varied across participants (between one and a half to 2 years postpartum), which warrants consideration. The trajectory approach taken here, which highlights slopes of changes over time rather than change between distinct timepoints mitigates the issue this may pose in interpreting results. Future studies should include additional assessments beyond 2 years to examine trajectories into childhood. Conclusions are necessarily limited by the particular measures used, which offered a multidimensional but far from comprehensive measure of the perinatal distress umbrella. It may be worthwhile in future research to include measures of perinatal-specific psychological and somatic symptoms, as well as measures that cover different time frames from immediate state affect—perhaps using experience sampling methods—to more stable trait-like features of psychological functioning. Dunn C, Hanieh E, Roberts R, Powrie R. 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 Mental Health. 2012;15(2):139–43. 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. Mindfulness meditation practises, such as yoga, mindful breathing , sitting meditation and walking meditation can all help, allowing us to discover unrecognised inner resources of strength and resilience. It helps us to understand that although giving birth can be difficult, it is physical process we can manage, moment by moment.