Trait mindfulness during pregnancy and perception of childbirth
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Trait mindfulness during pregnancy and perception of childbirth Lianne P. Hulsbosch 1 & Myrthe G. B. M. Boekhorst 1 & Eva S. Potharst 2,3 & Victor J. M. Pop 1 & Ivan Nyklíček 1 Received: 27 February 2020 / Accepted: 21 August 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Women’s subjective childbirth experience is a risk factor for postpartum depression and childbirth-related posttraumatic stress symptoms. Subjective childbirth experience is influenced not only by characteristics of the childbirth itself but also by maternal characteristics. A maternal characteristic that may be associated with a more positive childbirth experience is trait mindfulness. The current study aimed to assess this association and to assess whether trait mindfulness during pregnancy had a moderating role in the possible association between non-spontaneous delivery and perception of childbirth. A subsample of 486 women, participating in a longitudinal prospective cohort study (Holistic Approach to Pregnancy and the first Postpartum Year study), completed the Three Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form at 22 weeks of pregnancy. Women completed the Childbirth Perception Scale and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale between 7 and 21 days postpartum. The mindfulness facets acting with awareness and non-reacting were significantly associated with a more positive perception of childbirth, after adjusting for covariates. Moderation analyses showed a significant interaction between acting with awareness and nonspontaneous delivery and non-judging and non-spontaneous delivery. Non-spontaneous delivery was associated with a more negative perception of childbirth for low/medium scores of acting with awareness and non-judging, but not for high scores on these mindfulness facets. Trait mindfulness during pregnancy may enhance a positive perception of childbirth. Because this is among the first studies examining the association between maternal dispositional mindfulness and perception of childbirth, future research is needed to confirm the results of the current study. Keywords Childbirth experience . Delivery . Perception . Mindfulness . Pregnancy
Introduction Even though childbirth is usually experienced as painful and overwhelming, most women look back at it positively. However, some women perceive childbirth as a very stressful or even psychologically traumatic event (Boorman et al. 2014). Women’s subjective experience of childbirth is a risk factor for maternal mental health challenges, such as postpartum depression (Bell and Andersson 2016) and childbirth-
* Lianne P. Hulsbosch [email protected] 1
Center of Research in Psychological and Somatic disorders (CoRPS), Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Box 90153, 5000 LE Tilburg, The Netherlands
2
UvA Minds, Academic Outpatient (Child and Adolescent) Treatment Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3
Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
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