The Effect of Mindfulness-based Intervention on Postpartum Depression in Mothers with Infants in NICU

Having an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is very stressful and increases the risk of postpartum depression. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mindfulness intervention on the prevention of postpartum depression in mothers with preterm infants admitted to NICU.

: In an interventional study, postpartum depression was compared in three groups under mindfulness-based developmental care (group 34 = 1), developmental care (group 39 = 2) and control (group 3 = 50). Sampling was purposive and group assignment was random. Data were collected using the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Inventory and the Demographic Information Questionnaire.

The results of covariance analysis showed that the mean score of postpartum depression in the two months postpartum in the mindfulness-based developmental care group was significantly lower than the other two groups (pvalue <.01) While 78% of postpartum depression changes could be explained by the intervention R2 = 78%..

Mindfulness based interventions are effective in reducing postpartum depression scores and it is recommended that these interventions be considered at the NICUs for better effectiveness of developmental care programs and reduction of psychological complications in mothers.