Combining meditative practices with pregnancy education could benefit mothers and their infants, but more research is needed. A study published in the Journal of Nursing Education and Practice suggests that prenatal meditation can positively influence fetal health.
Chinese researcher Ka Po Chan of the Buddhist Institute of Enlightenment has developed a program for pregnant women known as Eastern based meditative intervention (EBMI). The program combines mindfulness meditation, Buddhist teachings, and Western psychotherapy.
“The major advance in caring for pregnant women in past decades has been the development of antenatal and postnatal care systems but only some of them have psychosocial intervention for women empowerment,” she wrote in her study. “Meditation is proven to be an excellent adjunctive treatment for many diseases. It is worthwhile to have more information about the effects of meditative intervention on perinatal women’s health.”
Pregnant Chinese women who attended obstetrician clinics and antenatal clinics at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong were randomized placed into two groups. One group of 64 pregnant Chinese women underwent six sessions of the Eastern based meditative intervention program.
During the sessions, these women were taught the basics of mindfulness and educated about the importance of a healthy diet and healthy behaviors during pregnancy. The women were also lectured about how to integrate four Buddhist virtues known as the four immeasurables — benevolence, compassion, empathetic joy and equanimity — into their lives.
“The characteristic of EBMI is that through meditative practice, we can have right awareness, change our mental process, train and transform our mind. EBMI improves the capacity for recognizing and solving problems,” Chan explained.
“EBMI included strategies that aimed at increasing awareness of the effect of stress, coping with stressful situation, increase positive thinking and pleasant activities, improving self-esteem, increasing self-care and learning skills to increase social support, and identifying and exploring unrealistic expectations about pregnancy and motherhood.”
Another group of 59 pregnant Chinese women attended only the introductory session of the Eastern based meditative intervention program.
Women who frequently practiced the techniques taught during the program reported significantly lower levels of distress. A follow-up assessment conducted on 5-month-old infants found that infants tended to have a better temperament if their mother attended the meditation program.
However, Chan noted the findings are preliminary and further research is needed. In addition, she noted that “the findings must be interpreted cautiously” because of missing data.