The Effect of Mindfulness Interventions on the Sleep Quality of Pregnant Mothers in the Second and Third Trimesters of Pregnancy

Sleep disorder is a common problem during pregnancy and a large percentage of pregnant women (especially in the third trimester of pregnancy) experience changes in their natural sleep pattern. Considering the fact that sleep disorder can cause many complications before, during and after childbirth, it is necessary to achieve good sleep quality during pregnancy. Therefore, the present research investigated the effect of mindfulness interventions on the quality of sleep among pregnant mothers in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

The present randomized clinical trial study used pre-education-post-education design in Sabzevar Health Center from 2019 to 2020 on all pregnant women referred for receiving prenatal care. A sample of 98 women who met the inclusion criteria were divided into intervention (n=50) and control groups (n=48). The sleep quality and depression anxiety and stress -21 (DASS-21) questionnaires, were completed by two groups at pre-test, post-test, and one month after the educational intervention. The intervention group received 6 sessions (1 hour and 30 minutes) of mindfulness lessons during 2 months, while the control group received routine pregnancy care and a mindfulness session was performed after completion of the post-education. Data was analyzed by SPSS software (version 20) and descriptive and repeated measures analysis were used.

Mindfulness interventions were effective in changing the sleep quality of pregnant mothers (P<0.05). Also, the mean scores of anxiety, stress and depression questionnaires of pregnant mothers, as confounding variables on sleep quality, was significantly changed during different stages of the study (P<0.05).

Mindfulness training significantly increased the sleep quality of pregnant mothers. Therefore, mindfulness interventions can be used as effective interventions in improving psychological wellbeing during pregnancy and also reducing the anxiety and stress of pregnant women.