Effects of mindfulness based interventions on depression in pregnant women: A systematic review and meta analysis

Objective: We synthesized the effects of mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) on depression in pregnant women.

Method: Ten electronic databases were searched from inception to September 2022. We reviewed studies with pregnant women receiving mindfulness-based interventions with depression outcomes. We only reviewed studies written in English. A random-effects model was used to compute the effect size. Funnel plot, Q statistics, and I² were used to test the heterogeneity across studies. We examined moderators to explore sources of heterogeneity.

Results: Across 19 included studies (N=1480), 717 pregnant women participated in mindfulness interventions; 763 served as controls. Mean age ranged from 25.3 to 33.6 years. Overall, mindfulness-based interventions showed reduced depression compared control groups (g=.457, 95%CI .254, .659, I²=68%). With subgroup analysis, mindfulness-based cognitive therapy had a greater effect on a reducing depressive symptom (g=1.13) than mindfulness-based stress reduction (g=.64) and adapted mindfulness-based intervention (g=.31). No quality indicators moderated the ES of mindfulness-based interventions on depression.

Conclusion: Mindfulness-based interventions significantly improved depression among pregnant women Clinicians and health providers should consider using MBIs as alternative complementary treatment for improving and preventing depression in pregnant women.

Keywords:
Mindfulness-based intervention, pregnant women, depression, meta-analysis.

Audience Take Away:

• Antidepressants and psychotherapy interventions are effective treatments for depression, but approximately 40% of depressed women with pregnancy do not receive treatment due to a lack of mental health professionals and barriers.
• Alternative and complementary treatments such as mindfulness-based interventions are growing.
• Researchers have meta-analyzed the effect of mindfulness-based interventions on depression in the adult population but no prior researchers specifically meta-analyzed the effects of mindfulness-based interventions on depression in pregnant women.
• Mindfulness-based intervention had a moderate effect on improving depressive symptoms in pregnant women.
• Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy had a greater effect on reducing depressive symptoms than mindfulness-based stress reduction and adapted mindfulness-based intervention.