A mindfulness approach to antenatal preparation

This article describes a small exploratory workshop undertaken to investigate the feasibility and acceptability of using a mindfulness-based approach to antenatal childbirth education. Good mental health and wellbeing, and not simply the absence of mental illness, have been shown to result in health, social and economic benefits for individuals, communities and populations (Department of Health, 2011). Mindfulness practices are increasingly being used as a way of managing pain, reducing stress and anxiety and have the potential to help parents preparing for childbirth to reduce the risk of postpartum depression and increase ‘availability’ of attention for their baby. As mindfulness practices help participants to see more clearly the patterns of the mind, it helps both to halt the escalation of negative thinking that might compound pain or depressed mood, and deals with the tendency to be on autopilot. This small pilot workshop received a remarkably positive response and showed that the training was accept...