Midwifery
November 1, 2024
Orli Dahan, Alexander Zibenberg, Alon Goldberg
14 citations
Women who gave birth without medical interventions—such as epidural anesthesia or instruments—reported a significantly higher flow state during labor than those who had interventions. Flow, a positive altered state of consciousness, was measured using the Flow State Scale in 766 Israeli women recruited via social media. All nine dimensions of flow—including challenge-skill balance, sense of control, and transformation of time—applied to childbirth. This finding empirically supports the concept of "birthing consciousness," a peak experience resembling flow. Understanding women's subjective experience during physiological birth can improve clinical care and promote positive birth experiences with health benefits.
Midwifery
July 16, 2025
Orli Dahan, Sapir Bar
2 citations
Postnatal debriefing, intended as a therapeutic conversation to help women process birth and prevent distress, can have variable effects, especially for those who experienced trauma. This commentary argues that when debriefing focuses only on women's expectations while ignoring the institutional and relational context of the birth, it can become a form of subtle coercion. This risks shifting responsibility for trauma from systemic failures onto the individual woman, reinforcing gaslighting and epistemic injustice. The authors propose that debriefing should be viewed as an ethically charged relational act, not a neutral task. A set and setting-informed approach may foster deeper validation, accountability, and healing.
Midwifery
June 1, 2025
Ayumi Tanke, Hiromi Tobe, Yuriko Usui et al.
2 citations
A short online mindfulness programme for pregnant women in Japan reduced perceived stress and fear of childbirth while increasing mindfulness, self-esteem, and subjective happiness. The four-week programme was tested on 37 healthy pregnant women between 16 and 34 gestational weeks. No significant effects were found for depression, anxiety, or sense of coherence in this low-risk group. The results suggest that condensed online mindfulness interventions can improve some aspects of maternal mental health, but larger and more diverse studies are needed.
Midwifery
August 1, 2023
Christina Prinds, Niels Christian Hvidt, Katja Schrøder et al.
1 citation
Among a nationwide Danish cohort of 16,380 pregnant women surveyed during the early COVID-19 pandemic, existential meaning-making practices such as prayer and meditation were largely unchanged: 88% reported that the pandemic had not influenced their responses. Overall, 44% considered themselves believers, 29% confirmed a specific form of prayer, and 18% confirmed a specific form of meditation. The pandemic did not alter these considerations or practices in this population.
Midwifery
July 15, 2025
Xin Wang, Ying Luo, Ying Gao et al.
A meta-analysis of ten randomized controlled trials found that mindfulness-based interventions significantly improve depression in women who have experienced fetal loss, with a large effect size. The interventions were effective for anxiety only in women without pre-existing anxiety symptoms. Improvements in post-traumatic growth were seen only with short-duration interventions (less than four weeks). The analysis notes that few high-quality trials exist, sample sizes are small, and long-term follow-up is lacking. The findings support integrating mindfulness-based interventions into psychosocial care, especially for women with prior psychological symptoms, and indicate a need for refined intervention strategies.