Mindful with your baby for mothers of infants with (parental) stress in a non-clinical setting: a wait-list controlled pilot trial

Eva Sophie Potharst; Irena Veringa-Skiba; Esther van Broekhuizen; Susan Maria Bögels

doi:10.1186/s12884-022-04640-z

Mindful with your baby for mothers of infants with (parental) stress in a non-clinical setting: a wait-list controlled pilot trial

BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2022 Apr 7;22(1):298. doi: 10.1186/s12884-022-04640-z.

Authors

Eva Sophie Potharst^{1

2}, Irena Veringa-Skiba³, Esther van Broekhuizen⁴, Susan Maria Bögels^{3

5}

Affiliations

¹ Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1018 WS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E.S.Potharst@uva.nl.
² Academic Outpatient (child and adolescent) Treatment Center, UvA Minds, University of Amsterdam, Banstraat 29, 1071 JW, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. E.S.Potharst@uva.nl.
³ Research Institute of Child Development and Education, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 127, 1018 WS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁴ Academic Outpatient (child and adolescent) Treatment Center, UvA Minds, University of Amsterdam, Banstraat 29, 1071 JW, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
⁵ Developmental Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Nieuwe Achtergracht 129-B, 1018 WS, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Abstract

Background: Because of the far-reaching negative consequences of high levels of (parental) stress for the mother, infant, the mother-infant relationship, and family functioning, psychological support for young mothers is important. Mindful with Your Baby is a mindfulness-based intervention, originally developed and evaluated in a clinical population of mothers with mental health issues and/or babies with regulation problems. The current pilot examines whether Mindful with Your Baby for mothers with symptoms of (parental) stress offered in a non-clinical setting is also effective and acceptable.

Methods: In this pilot waitlist-controlled trial, 17 mothers with infants (2-15 months) admitted themselves for a Mindful with Your Baby training in a non-clinical setting because of (parental) stress. Mindful with Your Baby was offered in groups of three to six mother-infant dyads and consisted of eight weekly 2-h sessions. Participants completed questionnaires on symptoms of parental stress, general stress, depression, anxiety, mindfulness and self-compassion at 8-week waitlist, pretest, posttest and 8-week follow-up.

Results: There were no training drop-outs, attendance rate was 92.5%, and the training was evaluated positively: all mothers (100%) felt they got something of lasting importance as a result of taking the training, and reported becoming more conscious as a parent, and 93% reported changing their lifestyle or parenting as a result of the training. Multilevel analyses showed no significant changes between waitlist and pretest. At posttest, a significant improvement occurred in all outcome measures compared to pretest, of moderate to large effect sizes. At follow-up, a significant improvement was seen compared to pretest in all outcomes except anxiety compared to pretest, of small to moderate effect sizes.

Conclusions: Mindful with Your Baby appears an acceptable and effective intervention for mothers with a baby who experience (parental) stress but who have not been referred to specialized mental health care. A low threshold access to Mindful with Your Baby in non-clinical settings could provide a timely and positive interference in (parental) stress.

Keywords: Infants; Intervention; Mindful parenting; Mindfulness; Mothers; Parental stress.

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Infant
Mindfulness*
Mother-Child Relations / psychology
Mothers* / psychology
Parenting / psychology
Parents
Pilot Projects