Depression is one of the most common complications of childbirth, with13% of mothers becoming depressed in the period before or immediately after the birth of their baby. There is a pressing need to find an effective way to prevent depression because of its important consequences during this critical period: poor adherence to antenatal care; increased risk of preterm labour, increased use of alcohol and drugs, marital problems. Of all these effects, the interference with parenting is particularly important, because it can affect the later development of the infant.
Why does this happen?
The early interaction between parents and their babies lays an important foundation for the child’s later social, emotional, and cognitive abilities. The subtleties of such moment by moment interaction are critically affected by preoccupation in adult carers. Simply put, if the mother or father is wrapped up in their own concerns, they are not able to notice the momentary signals that their babies are pre-programmed to make, and that would have formed the basis of secure attachment and later cognitive development.
Can mindfulness help?
Working as a nurse-midwife in California, Nancy Bardacke (Mindfulness teacher and Assistant Clinical Professor, University of California, San Francisco) used MBSR as a foundation to develop antenatal classes for both parents, with the aim of reversing the negative impact that high stress and fear have on maternal and neonatal outcomes. She developed Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP). The initial evidence is very compelling, with reported changes not only in the experience of childbirth, but also in the relationship with the baby afterwards. Many of the couples stay in touch and support each other in the years after the birth of their babies. Given the known effects of mindfulness in preventing depression, the obvious next step is to research the effects of MBCP on perinatal depression, especially in those parents known to be vulnerable.
Dr Maret Dymond at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre is working with Nancy Bardacke to bring MBCP to the UK. Following a feasibility study in 2011 which brought a group of midwives up to the level of competence required to introduce the mindfulness approach to their clients
We are now in a position to begin a pilot project with 12 couples expecting babies in May, June or July 2012. Read more about this project…
- Mindfulness approaches to childbirth and parenting in the British Journal of Midwifery OCTOBER 2009, VOL 17, NO 10 Annie Hughes, Mark Williams, Nancy Bardacke, Larissa G. Duncan, Sona Dimidjian and Sherryl H. Goodman
