Premium
Mindfulness Childbirth Classes Transform the Experiences of Postpartum Women
Author(s) -
KantrowitzGordon Ira,
Abbott Shan,
Hoehn Rachel
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of midwifery and women's health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.543
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1542-2011
pISSN - 1526-9523
DOI - 10.1111/jmwh.12692
Subject(s) - mindfulness , childbirth , postpartum period , psychological intervention , psychology , breastfeeding , qualitative research , pregnancy , clinical psychology , nursing , developmental psychology , medicine , psychiatry , social science , genetics , pathology , sociology , biology
Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore women's experiences with mindfulness in the year following childbirth using in‐depth interviews. Research Questions The specific aims were to understand: 1) how women used mindfulness skills to meet the physical, emotional, and relationship challenges in the year after childbirth and 2) how mindfulness helped them enhance their positive experience of the postpartum period. Significance The postpartum period can be a challenging experience for many women as they adjust to the physical and social changes of new motherhood. Mindfulness‐based interventions have been developed for stress reduction in a variety of health contexts, including pregnancy. Mindfulness‐based interventions may provide strategies for new mothers to handle the challenges of breastfeeding and to increase acceptance of postpartum physical changes and image. Limited research has explored the benefits of mindfulness classes for the postpartum experience and parenting. Methods Twelve women who participated in a Mindfulness for Childbirth and Parenting course during pregnancy were interviewed within the first year postpartum. The semi‐structured interview guide included questions on how participants may have used mindfulness to approach a variety of positive and negative postpartum experiences. Qualitative description methodology guided the research team in independent coding of the transcripts. The team subsequently met to review and achieve consensus in the development of codes, categories, and themes in the data. Results Four themes were identified in women's postpartum experiences: 1) challenges across the postpartum experience; 2) formal practices of mindfulness to address postpartum challenges; 3) informal practices to address postpartum challenges; and 4) the life‐changing and transformative effects of mindfulness. These themes showed a pathway by which participants used mindfulness skills to not only address the postpartum challenges, but to also transform their postpartum experience with a positive and magical perspective. Discussion Mindfulness skills helped class participants to cope with physical and emotional challenges postpartum and to develop a positive and meaningful relationship with the newborn. Findings have implications for future research on the postpartum experience and for optimizing the content of perinatal mindfulness classes to maximize the benefit during the postpartum year.