At 30 weeks pregnant, Ester prepares with enthusiasm and detail the arrival into the world of her first child, Paris. She is one of the future mothers participating in the mindfulness program for pregnant women that the Hospital del Mar has launched in order to improve her emotional and mental state.
The hospital, the first in Spain to offer pregnant women this stress reduction technique, is inspired by experiences with good results that have been developed in countries such as Canada, Australia or England. During the first months of this year, the Gynecology and Obstetrics service has trained nine midwives in this technique.
“It is helping me to manage situations of daily life, such as stress or anxiety, as well as to react to a problem. It is not a way of life, but it is about understanding that we live in society and learning to live in the momentâ€, explains Ester. The future mother has been practicing mindfulness for two months, two and a half hours every Monday, combined with yoga exercises. In addition, she takes homework: 45 minutes of relaxation a day.
The mindfulness program is carried out in the hospital and in its linked primary care centers, both in individual consultations and in group yoga, birth preparation and postpartum workshops. It replicates a stress reduction psychoeducational intervention program created at the University of Massachusetts (USA).
Ester declares herself surprised with the results. “She thought that it was just a matter of meditation and what it is about is living in the moment, the moment, and knowing how to identify and channel the sensationâ€, she indicates. There is scientific evidence of the benefits of mindfulness in reducing stress, a circumstance that affects the health of the mother and the baby.
It is “a safe and effective intervention” for pregnancy, when you have to be careful with drugs, says midwife Georgina Picas, head of the sexual and reproductive health services at the Hospital del Mar outpatient clinics. “Pregnancy,” she argues – It is a vital moment, of many changes, in which women can feel discomfort such as fear or stress, and an increase in disorders such as anxiety or depression â€.
Mental disorders during pregnancy and postpartum have a high incidence in Catalonia, where they affect almost one in five women. Anxiety and depression are the most common, and can affect the physical health of both the woman, causing preeclampsia and other pathologies, and the baby: prematurity, low weight or neurodevelopmental effects after childbirth.
Recent studies cited by the Hospital del Mar indicate that training in the mindfulness technique reduces the number of low birth weight babies by 29% and the rate of complications such as preeclampsia (high blood pressure in the mother reduces the blood supply to the fetus) or perinatal death.
“We are sure that the implementation of this program will have a positive effect on the childbirth and postpartum experience,” says midwife MarÃa Mamblona, ​​coordinator of Gynecology and Obstetrics. The hospital will study the impact of mindfulness training in the puerperium (period from childbirth to the first menstruation), considered the most vulnerable stage for women during maternity.
