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What is Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP)?

By The Science of Mindfulness

Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP)

Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting, also known as MBCP, is a course for pregnant women and their partners that adapts mindfulness-based stress reduction to the experiences of pregnancy, labor, birth, and early parenthood. It was developed by Nancy Bardacke, a nurse-midwife and mindfulness teacher, who describes the program in her book Mindful Birthing1, 2. The aim is to help families meet the intensity, uncertainty, and physical sensations of childbirth, and the demands that follow, with awareness and steadiness rather than fear.

Course Format: MBCP follows the structure of an MBSR course, with weekly group classes and daily home practice, and partners are invited to take part. The practices include the body scan, sitting meditation, and mindful movement, adapted for pregnancy, together with exercises for working with intense sensations and with emotions, communication between partners, and awareness of the baby’s first weeks2. Details vary by teacher and location. A shorter 2.5-day weekend version, “The Mind in Labor,” based on MBCP, has also been tested in a randomized trial3.

Instructor Requirements: MBCP teachers are generally experienced mindfulness-based stress reduction teachers who have completed MBCP-specific training and have knowledge of pregnancy and birth.

Course Outcomes: The Prenatal Education About Reducing Labor Stress (PEARLS) study was a small randomized trial of 30 first-time mothers in the late third trimester of pregnancy. Participants attended either the mindfulness-based “Mind in Labor” course or a standard childbirth preparation course with no mind-body focus. The mindfulness group showed greater childbirth self-efficacy and mindful body awareness, lower depression symptoms after the course that were maintained through postpartum follow-up, and a trend toward lower use of opioid pain medication in labor. They did not report lower labor pain in retrospect, or use epidurals less often, than the comparison group. The authors called for a larger trial that captures pain during labor in real time3.

A related program, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy adapted for perinatal depression (MBCT-PD), was tested in a pilot randomized trial of 86 pregnant women with a history of depression. Compared with treatment as usual, women in MBCT-PD had significantly lower rates of depressive relapse or recurrence and less severe depressive symptoms through six months after birth4. See also Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT).

Clinical Populations: MBCP is designed for expectant parents in general rather than for a specific diagnosis. The evidence so far comes from small studies, so its effects on birth outcomes and on postpartum mood remain to be confirmed in larger trials3.

Learn More: Bardacke’s article “Childbirth and Beyond” in Mindful magazine introduces the program. For the original course MBCP is based on, see Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).

This page is for general education and is not medical advice. Please speak with a qualified health professional about treatment options.

References

  1. Bardacke, N. (2012). Mindful birthing: Training the mind, body, and heart for childbirth and beyond. HarperOne.
  2. Duncan, L. G., & Bardacke, N. (2009). Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting Education: Promoting Family Mindfulness During the Perinatal Period. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19(2), 190-202. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-009-9313-7
  3. Duncan, L. G., Cohn, M. A., Chao, M. T., Cook, J. G., Riccobono, J., & Bardacke, N. (2017). Benefits of preparing for childbirth with mindfulness training: a randomized controlled trial with active comparison. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 17(1), Article 140. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-017-1319-3
  4. Dimidjian, S., Goodman, S. H., Felder, J. N., Gallop, R., Brown, A. P., & Beck, A. (2016). Staying well during pregnancy and the postpartum: A pilot randomized trial of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(2), 134-145. https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000068

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