Improve the Psychological Health of Women with Unwanted Pregnancies with Mindfulness
By John M. de Castro, Ph.D.
“mindfulness-based interventions can be beneficial for outcomes such as anxiety, depression, perceived stress and levels of mindfulness during the perinatal period.” – Anjulie Dhillon
The period of pregnancy is a time of intense physiological and psychological change. Anxiety, depression, and fear are quite common during pregnancy. More than 20 percent of pregnant women have an anxiety disorder, depressive symptoms, or both during pregnancy. These feelings can be amplified if the pregnancy is unplanned and unwanted. Mindfulness training has been shown to improve anxiety and depression normally and to relieve maternal anxiety and depression during pregnancy and to relieve postpartum depression. It is possible, then, that mindfulness training may be helpful for the psychological health of women with unwanted pregnancies.
In today’s Research News article “The influence of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on stress, anxiety and depression due to unwanted pregnancy: a randomized clinical trial.” (See summary below or view the full text of the study at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8283654/ ) Nejad and colleagues recruited pregnant women with an unplanned pregnancy who had symptoms of anxiety, depression, or stress. They were randomly assigned to receive either standard care or 8 weekly 2-hour sessions of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with additional home practice. MBSR includes training and practice in meditation, body scan, and yoga and includes group discussion. They were measured before and after training for anxiety, depression, and stress.
They found that in comparison to baseline and the usual care group, the group that received Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) had significant reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress. Previous research has demonstrated in a wide variety healthy and ill groups that mindfulness training produces reductions in perceived stress, anxiety and depression. The present research demonstrates that MBSR is similarly effective in women with unwanted pregnancies, improving their well-being.
The study, however, did not include an active control condition or follow up. So, it is not known whether the training had lasting effects and whether the benefits may have been due to confounding factors such as attentional effects, placebo effects, or experimenter bias. Future research should include an active comparison condition such as stretching exercises and follow up with the women several weeks later.
So, improve the psychological health of women with unwanted pregnancies with mindfulness.
“mindfulness practices can help anxiety, depression, and stress during the perinatal period.” – Carrie Murphy
CMCS – Center for Mindfulness and Contemplative Studies
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Study Summary
Nejad, F. K., Shahraki, K. A., Nejad, P. S., Moghaddam, N. K., Jahani, Y., & Divsalar, P. (2021). The influence of mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) on stress, anxiety and depression due to unwanted pregnancy: a randomized clinical trial. Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene, 62(1), E82–E88. https://doi.org/10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2021.62.1.1691
Summary
Background
Individuals with unwanted pregnancies often experience high levels of anxiety, stress and depression that associated with maternal-neonatal outcomes. Mindfulness training is a safe and acceptable strategy to support mental health before parturition.
Purpose
The main objective of present study was to evaluate the influence of eight-week application of mindfulness-based stress reduction on stress, anxiety and depression caused by unplanned pregnancy.
Method
In this study, 60 women with unwanted pregnancy before 32 weeks of gestational age were selected and randomly divided into two groups. Intervention group received MBSR sessions, practice at home and the recorded sound. Mental health was evaluated before intervention and at the end of the eight sessions by standard stress, anxiety and depression DASS-21 questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U and Wilcoxon tests.
Findings
In order to compare pre-test and post-test scores in each group, the Wilcoxon Test was used. The results revealed that the participants in the intervention group reported a significant decrease in mean scores of stress, anxiety and depression compared to baseline (P = 0.0). Whereas no significant decrease in mean stress, anxiety and depression score were found in control group. P-value was estimated to be 0.346, 0.212 and 0.343 respectively.
Conclusions
The mindfulness program has effectively reduced stress, anxiety and depression. Further research is needed to investigate the mechanisms and effects of mindfulness on maternal-neonatal outcomes.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8283654/