Mindfulness skills during pregnancy: Prospective associations with mother's mood and neonatal birth weight

Objectives: Mindfulness skills have been associated with better mood and several health related outcomes. Because depressed mood during pregnancy has been related to worse child outcomes, the aim was to examine the association of mindfulness skills during pregnancy with the mother's depressive symptoms, gestational age, and neonatal birth weight. Methods: A subsample of 905 pregnant women who participated in the longitudinal cohort HAPPY study (Holistic Approach to Pregnancy and the first Postpartum Year) completed the 12-item Three Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire-Short Form at 22 weeks of gestation. The Edinburgh Depression Scale was completed to assess depressive symptoms at 12, 22 and 32 weeks. The obstetric medical records were examined for gestational age and birth weight. Results: Mindfulness skills Acting with Awareness and Nonjudging at 22 weeks were associated with less depressive symptoms at 22 weeks and at 32 weeks. When controlled for depressive symptoms at 22 weeks, the association was still significant for Nonjudging predicting depressive symptoms at 32 weeks (Beta = -0.12, p < 0.01). Regarding the obstetric medical records, only Nonreacting was (positively) associated with birth weight (Beta = 0.09, p < 0.01). Controlling for gestational age, sex, parity, depressive symptoms, and health behavior, Nonreacting predicted a normal birth weight (OR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.06-1.19), in contrast to low birth weight. Conclusion: It seems that different mindfulness skills during pregnancy are important in predicting mother's depressive symptoms compared to the prediction of child's birth weight. Potential mechanisms are discussed.