A randomized control study out of the University of California, San Francisco found that mindfulness training that is carefully tailored to address fear and pain of childbirth may lead to important maternal health benefits, including lower postpartum depression symptoms and lower use of opioid analgesia use in labor.
The expecting moms involved in the research study were either assigned to a 3rd trimester mindfulness-based childbirth education program or a typical American childbirth education class that's offered at hospitals and community-based agencies nationwide. The mindfulness-based program is called "Mind in Labor: Working with Pain in Childbirth", which was created over several years by the founder of the modern mindfulness-in-pregnancy movement, Nancy Bardacke.
Learn more about the recent research and the various courses led by Nancy and her team.