MINDFULNESS TRAINING REDUCES C-SECTION

Edited by, SNEHA MAVIS

A short, group-based mindfulness training for pregnant women and their partners lowers the risk of a medically unnecessary caesarean birth by half and increases the chances of a natural birth by double. Nancy Bardacke, a US midwife and mindfulness educator, created the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) programme, which focuses on pregnant women who are particularly afraid of childbirth.

A total of 140 pregnant women and their spouses took part in the study. Half of the women received mindfulness training from qualified midwives, while the other half received additional support for their fears as part of their regular care. The researchers discovered significant disparities between the two groups.

Women who underwent mindfulness training had 36 percent lower likelihood of having an excessive fear of childbirth, according to the widely used W-DEQ scale. When compared to the control group, catastrophizing about labour pain declined greatly, but acceptance of the physiology of labour pain increased significantly. The mindfulness group used 36 percent less epidural anaesthetic during childbirth than the control group, and 51 percent had fewer non-medically urgent caesarean deliveries.