ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The process of entering motherhood is highly stressful for women, with 15-85% of new mothers experiencing postpartum blues or depression. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of a mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting program in improving psychological health during the postpartum period. METHODS: This research was a randomized controlled trial with single blinding. Recruitment began after the participating hospital granted formal approval. A total of 74 women between 13 and 28-weeks gestation were allocated either to the intervention group or to the comparison group. The intervention program included a series of eight, 3-h classes held once weekly and 1 day of 7-h silent meditation. Psychological health was assessed at baseline and 3-months postpartum. RESULTS: Significant differences in stress and depression were observed in both groups over time. Stress scores and depression scores were significantly better in the intervention group than in the comparison group at 3-months postpartum (F = 7.19, p = .009 and F = 7.36, p = .008, respectively). No significant difference between the groups was identified for mindfulness scores at 3-months postpartum. CONCLUSIONS: The intervention program effectively reduced postpartum self-perceived stress and depression, suggesting that this program provides acceptable and long-term benefits to women during pregnancy and the postpartum period. The teaching and practice of mindfulness meditation and parenting education during pregnancy may help reduce stress and depression in pregnant women as they transition into parenthood. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The ClinicalTrials.gov identifier for this study is: NCT03185910 . The study was retrospectively registered on 14 June 2017.
Subject(s)
Depression, Postpartum/prevention & control , Mental Health , Mindfulness/methods , Stress, Psychological/prevention & control , Adult , Depression/psychology , Depression, Postpartum/psychology , Female , Humans , Postpartum Period/psychology , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Trimester, Second , Single-Blind Method , Stress, Psychological/psychology , Taiwan , Treatment OutcomeABSTRACT
The crosslinked chitosan microparticles prepared through homogeneous coupling reaction and microparticle formation using a sodium hydroxide solution showed the largest adsorbed amounts toward the RB5 and 3R dyes than those from the three other methods through heterogeneous coupling reaction and microparticle formation using sodium hydroxide or sodium tripolyphosphate solutions. The dynamical experimental study showed that the dye adsorption accurately followed the second-order adsorption process. The experimental isotherm data were analyzed using three isotherm models, namely, Langmuir, Freundlich, and Dubinin-Radushkevich. The results revealed that the adsorption behavior of the RB5 and 3R dyes on the microparticles fitted well with the Langmuir model. In addition, the mean adsorption energy (E) from the Dubinin-Radushkevich isotherm and the activation energy (E(a)) from Arrhenius equation indicated that the adsorption process might be the dual nature of the process, physisorption and chemisorption, and was predominant on the chemisorption process The competitive adsorption showed that the adsorption of the 3R dye on the microparticles in the mixture solution was much more affected by the existence of the RB5 dye than the other way around. Furthermore, it was also found that the crosslinked chitosan microparticles can be regenerated and reused for dye adsorption.
