Mindful Birthing & Parenting Foundation

MBCP is a 9-week evidence-based program for expectant parents that includes the physiology of childbirth, ways to use the mind to work with pain during labor, positions for birthing, breastfeeding, parenting a newborn, and using mindful communication during childbirth and beyond.

Research findings suggest that MBCP may help:

- DECREASE stress, anxiety, depression (including postpartum), fear of childbirth, pain catastrophizing, non-urgent interventions (including self-requested c-sections and epidurals)
- INCREASE positive affect, childbirth self-efficacy, mindfulness
- IMPROVE co-parenting relationships, newborn APGAR scores at 1-minute post-birth, infant social-emotional development at 3-months of age, infant stress resiliency at 6-months of age

Benefits from the MBCP program not only extend beyond pregnancy into the postpartum period and early parenting, but it also can have an intergenerational impact on the well-being of offspring.

Mind in Labor is a course designed for expectant parents who are curious how practicing mindfulness can make a difference in their labor and delivery experiences. This course trains participants in mindfulness skills in addition to covering childbirth education basics. Participants engage in guided meditation practices and receive materials to continue at home after the course.

In this course, expectant parents:
- Practice mindfulness for working with pain and fear during labor
- Understand the mind/body connection in childbirth for maintaining the optimal physiology for childbirth
- Learn how to be fully present to give comfort and support as a birth partner

Mindfulness-Based Early Parenting (MBEP) is a 6-session course for new parents who have completed the 9-week MBCP or the Mind in Labor class prenatally. The MBEP sessions are approximately 1.5 hours in length, scheduled every week. MBEP is designed to support parents into the first months of their parenting journey, building on the mindfulness skills they have learned in MBCP.

​MBEP can support new parents to:
- Reduce stress and enhance mental health
- Build calm and connection with their baby
- Respond rather than react in the present moment
- Stay level and grounded even under difficult circumstances
- Grow in mindful communication as new relationships are being formed-with the baby, between the new parents, and within the wider family network
- Reduce inter-generational suffering by disrupting unhelpful patterns from families of origin, maintaining helpful patterns and choosing to embrace new family dynamics as needed
- Be a part of an ongoing community of other new parents