Prenatal Education About Reducing Labor Stress (PEARLS)

University of California San Francisco (UCSF)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Labor Pain; Tocophobia

Treatments: Behavioral: Treatment as usual (TAU); Behavioral: Mind in Labor (MIL): Working with Pain in Childbirth

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02327559

PEARLSMZHF

Details and patient eligibility

About

The purpose of this small randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to compare the impact of a brief (16 hour) 3rd trimester mindfulness-based childbirth education program, "Mind in Labor (MIL): Working with Pain in Childbirth," with a standard care/"treatment as usual" (TAU) active control condition of standard hospital- and community-based childbirth education. The MIL group is expected to demonstrate a reduction in fear of labor (less pain catastrophizing and greater childbirth self-efficacy), less perceived pain in labor, less use of pain medication in labor, greater birth satisfaction, and better prenatal and postpartum psychological adjustment compared to the TAU group.

Enrollment: 33 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Age 18 or over
• No prior full-term pregnancy or live birth prior to the current pregnancy
• In 3rd trimester of healthy, singleton pregnancy
• Willingness to be randomized
• Able to read, write, and understand spoken English
• Planned hospital birth in the San Francisco Bay Area

Exclusion criteria

• Current or prior formal meditation experience
• Formal yoga practice prior to pregnancy (brief prenatal yoga practice will not lead to exclusion)
• Participation in other mind/body childbirth preparation course (e.g., with hypnosis focus)
• Planned elective Cesarean birth
• Planned homebirth or other non-hospital birth setting

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Double Blind

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33 participants in 2 patient groups

Mind in Labor (MIL)

Experimental group

Description:

Mind in Labor: Working with Pain in Childbirth (MIL) is a 16-hour mindfulness-based childbirth education course. It is an abbreviated weekend workshop form of the 9-week Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) education program, which is a tailored form of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Mind in Labor (MIL): Working with Pain in Childbirth

Treatment As Usual (TAU)

Active Comparator group

Description:

Treatment As Usual (TAU) refers to standard hospital- and community-based childbirth preparation courses (high quality childbirth education that excludes a mindfulness or mind/body stress reduction focus).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Treatment as usual (TAU)