An evaluation of mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting courses for pregnant women and prospective fathers/partners within the UK NHS (MBCP-4-NHS)
Abstract
An evaluation of mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting courses for pregnant women and prospective fathers/partners within the UK NHS (MBCP-4-NHS).Objective To explore the usefulness within the National Health Service (NHS) of a brief (four week, ten hour) course based upon the Mindfulness Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) programme (Duncan and Bardacke, 2010) described here as MBCP-4-NHS.Background The National Maternity Review (2016) and report of The Independent Mental Health Taskforce to the NHS (2016a, 2016b) in England highlight the need for significant investment into perinatal mental health services, with the Government pledging funding to improve such services through a range of measures. Whilst the field of mindfulness during the perinatal period is in need of well controlled trials and studies exploring the mechanisms of action (Hall et al., 2016) the limited research to date supports the potential for mindfulness based interventions in pregnancy and the need for further scientific study in this area (Dhillon et al., 2017; Shi and Macbeth, 2017). Particularly because it may broaden women's repertoire of coping strategies with the potential to improve the developmental trajectory of both parents and infants (Dunn et al., 2012; Duncan and Bardacke, 2010; Vieten and Astin, 2008). However, most of the studies to date have involved lengthy courses of around 8-9 weeks (24 h) duration, which may not be feasible or economical within a UK NHS setting and therefore, would be unlikely to be adopted as routine practice.Design An initial pilot study to discover if MBCP-4-NHS is acceptable and feasible within NHS maternity services, comparing maternal and paternal pre and post intervention self-report measures of mental health to begin to explore the effectiveness of this intervention.Setting NHS antenatal education classes held in children's centres for expectant parents across Oxfordshire.Participants All expectant parents receiving Oxfordshire maternity services between October 2014 and January 2015 were invited to self-refer into the intervention, of which 155 individuals (86 women and 69 men) took part.Intervention 'MBCP-4-NHS' - A brief (four week, ten hour) course developed from the nine week Mindfulness Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) intervention.Measures Self-report measures of mental health including low mood/depression, mindfulness, stress, anxiety, pregnancy related distress and experiences.Findings The results showed a significant increase in both maternal and paternal mental health with women demonstrating a significant improvement in symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, pregnancy-related distress, labour worry and positive and negative pregnancy experiences; and men improving significantly in symptoms of anxiety, depression and showing a trend for improvement in self-reported symptoms of perceived stress.Conclusions This is a promising antenatal intervention that can be feasibly implemented within NHS which might have the potential to impact upon parental mental health and, therefore, possibly also the health of next generation. However, caution is needed interpreting these findings given that this study did not include an active control group.Implications for practice This research provides a clear rationale and justification for a large randomised control trial of this intervention within the NHS, which should include a more diverse population, across multiple centres and should explore both the potential health benefits for parents and infants/children as well as potential economic costs/benefits.
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Mindfulness-based interventions across the perinatal period demonstrate preliminary feasibility and acceptability among fathers and have been shown to improve paternal mindfulness and reduce paternal internalizing symptoms.
“Though most work examining the effectiveness of these interventions during the perinatal period focuses on mothers [97, 103], mindfulness-based interventions across the perinatal period demonstrate preliminary feasibility and acceptability among fathers [104] and have been shown to improve paternal mindfulness and reduce paternal internalizing symptoms [105].”
From Trajectories of Maternal and Paternal Internalizing Symptoms from Pregnancy to 2 Years Postpartum: Identifying Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors (2024) · cites this paper as [105]
Several brief adaptations of mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting programs exist.
“Further, several brief adaptations of mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting programs exist (e.g., a weekend workshop, 4 vs. 9 weeks [105, 107]), thereby enhancing the accessibility of these interventions.”
From Trajectories of Maternal and Paternal Internalizing Symptoms from Pregnancy to 2 Years Postpartum: Identifying Modifiable Risk and Protective Factors (2024) · cites this paper as [105]
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“In addition, a brief version of MBCP with 4 sessions (instead of the original 9) has proven to be feasible and acceptable, and the results also point to improvements in selfreport measures of stress and depression (Warriner et al. 2018).”
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“Mindfulness plays an important role in affecting personal resilience (Zenner et al., 2014).”
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“In terms of mindfulness intervention for pregnancy stress, the conclusion of this study is consistent with the conclusions of most previous studies (Krusche et al., 2018; Warriner et al., 2018; Pan et al., 2019a,b; Lönnberg et al., 2020), but the effect was different.”
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Cost, K. T., McGowan, P. O., & Pawluski, J. L. (2021) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-030-60159-1_12 · Cited by 4 · see citing works
Preventive Psychological Interventions for the Management of Perinatal Anxiety: A Systematic Review
Val, A., Posse, C. M., & Míguez, M. C. (2025) · Brain Sciences · doi:10.3390/brainsci15080861 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Of the 18 interventions implemented in pregnancy, nine were delivered face-to-face, of which five were mindfulness interventions [49,50,54,55,58] and four were CBT [45,47,48,51].”
InfluentialPawluski, J. L., & Oberlander, T. F. (2025) · Nature Mental Health · doi:10.1038/s44220-025-00480-w · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“There is also emerging literature pointing to the importance of social support and relationship satisfaction for perinatal mental health 69,70 and an encouraging trial of transcranial direct current stimulation in pregnancy 71 .”
Rahimi, F., & Moenimehr, M. (2022) · Quarterly of Horizon of Medical Sciences · doi:10.32598/hms.28.3.3378.2 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
Predictors of Pregnant Women's Decision to Opt for Cesarean Section in Romania
Radu, M. C., Manolescu, L. S. C., Armean, S. M., Prasacu, I., Vermeulen, J., Pop-Tudose, M. E., Medar, C., & Chivu, R. D. (2024) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.69185 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“Research conducted in the United Kingdom found that antenatal courses offered by the British National Health Service led to significant improvements in stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms among pregnant women and their partners [30-32].”
BackgroundTian, Y., Ma, R., Cui, N., Wang, J., Huang, Y., Guo, K., Liu, X., Fang, H., Dong, M., Wan, C., et al. (2025) · Journal of Medical Internet Research · doi:10.2196/77260 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…implemented within the National Health Service as a nonrandomized intervention demonstrated broader benefits; pregnant women showed reduced anxiety, depression, and pregnancy-related distress, whereas their partners exhibited decreased anxiety and depression, with potential stress reduction [69].”
Trait mindfulness in early pregnancy and adverse perinatal outcomes: a prospective cohort study
Fain, A. C., Cersonsky, T. E. K., Bublitz, M. H., Lewkowitz, A. K., Werner, E. F., Miller, E. S., & Ayala, N. K. (2025) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-025-07194-y · Cited by 2 · see citing works
Rizzi, S., Pavesi, M. C., Moser, A., Paolazzi, F., Marchesoni, M., Poggianella, S., Gadotti, E., & Forti, S. (2024) · JMIR Formative Research · doi:10.2196/58265 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
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Birner, C., & Große, G. (2021) · Research Square · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-223224/v1 · Cited by 3 · see citing works
“While several authors found positive influences (Goetz et al., 2020; Krusche et al., 2018; Price et al., 2019; Sobhani et al., 2019; Warriner et al., 2018; Yang et al., 2019; Zarenejad et al., 2020; Zemestani, 2019; J.-Y. Zhang et al., 2019), two studies did not show positive effects of…”
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“Similarly, when mindfulness interventions are offered to both pregnant women and their partners, reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress levels occur in both expectant mothers and their partners (Warriner et al., 2018).”
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“…during the perinatal period focuses on mothers [97, 103], mindfulness-based interventions across the perinatal period demonstrate preliminary feasibility and acceptability among fathers [104] and have been shown to improve paternal mindfulness and reduce paternal internalizing symptoms [105].”
Newly qualified health visitor: A mindful transition to parenthood
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Mindfulness-Based Interventions during Pregnancy and Labour
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Effective interventions to increase father inclusive practice
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Independent Qualitative Evaluative Study of Calmbirth Antenatal Classes
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“Warriner et al. [32] conducted a pilot evaluation of a mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting course ( n = 19 fathers).”
Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Perinatal Populations: a Scoping Review
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Stierman, E. K., Clifford, S., Kramer, B. E., Soto, M., Minihane, M., Mary, M., Spielman, K. L., Daggula, K., & Creanga, A. A. (2026) · Journal of Affective Disorders Reports · doi:10.1016/j.jadr.2026.101194
- Authors
- Warriner, S., Crane, C., Dymond, M., & Krusche, A.
- Affiliations
- John Radcliffe Hospital (GB)
- Warneford Hospital (GB)
- University of Southampton (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Warriner, Sian
- Venue
- Midwifery
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-09
- Volume
- 64
- Pages
- 1-10
- ISSN
- 0266-6138 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2803476295
- Cited by
- 57
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 10 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 5.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Midwifery (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Obstetrics and Gynecology › Maternal and Perinatal Health Interventions
- Keywords
- childbirth preparation, parenting courses, perinatal mental health, prenatal education, pregnant women, paternal mental health, maternal mental health, brief mindfulness intervention, NHS maternity services, intervention feasibility and acceptability, Oxfordshire, National Health Service
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Fathers, Female, United Kingdom, Humans, Male, Pilot Projects, Pregnancy, Prenatal Care, Psychometrics, Surveys and Questionnaires, State Medicine, Parenting, Parturition, Pregnant People, Pregnant Women, Prenatal Education, Mindfulness
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