Mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting

Domain II · Behavioural & cognitive · Nancy Bardacke · 1998

What it is

Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) is a group course for expectant couples. Bardacke, a nurse-midwife, created it in 1998 as a formal adaptation of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It combines MBSR's meditation training with childbirth education and preparation for early…

Format

• Format (original version).
• Classes: nine weekly classes of 3 hours each, with a 15-minute snack break that is used on purpose to build community.

Who practises it, and how they are trained or regulated

• Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) is a group course for expectant couples. Bardacke, a nurse-midwife, created it in 1998 as a formal adaptation of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). It combines MBSR's meditation training with childbirth education and preparation for early parenting. The proposed route to change has three parts:
• For a psychotherapist, MBCP is a structured psychoeducational group programme, not an individual therapy. Delivering it under the MBCP name requires the developer's teacher training (see Section 2). Using single components in individual perinatal work is an adaptation.

Questions to explore with your client

• What drew you to it, and what are you hoping it will change?
• Is there physical contact? Was it explained beforehand, and do you feel free to say no or stop at any point?
• Does it involve intense or unusual breathing? Have you been told about the medical conditions for which that is not advised?
• Is it a group, retreat or community? How do they respond if someone wants to leave or raises a concern?
• Does it use a device, heat, cold, water or a physical procedure? Has a medical professional checked that it is safe for you?
• Who runs it, and what training or registration do they hold?
• What actually happens in a session or meeting, and how often?
• What does it cost, and is there pressure to commit to more?
• How do you feel afterwards, in the hours and days that follow?
• Does it fit with, or clash with, the work we do here?

What practitioners of it watch for

• Anticipatory tension during the rest. Point it out kindly.
• Balance changes in late pregnancy. Offer a wall or chair to hold.
• Long narrative entries without body detail. Prompt for sensations.
• Using it as a way to escape the moment rather than to step into it.
• Mobility limits and obstetric restrictions. Defer to the maternity provider.

When to involve someone else

• New or worsening physical symptoms, or advice to stop or change prescribed medication: involve the client's doctor or prescriber.
• Signs of coercion, isolation from family and friends, escalating costs or secrecy: discuss openly and consider safeguarding.
• A crisis or thoughts of suicide: follow your crisis protocol. In the US, call or text 988; in the UK and Ireland, Samaritans on 116 123.

Drawn automatically from the guide's own sections. Stay curious: neither endorse nor dismiss what the client values, and check anything that matters against the full guide and its sources. Not medical advice.