Improving maternal well-being: a matrescence education pilot study for new mothers.

Victoria Trinko, Julia Sarewitz, Aurelie Athan
{"title":"Improving maternal well-being: a matrescence education pilot study for new mothers.","authors":"Victoria Trinko, Julia Sarewitz, Aurelie Athan","doi":"10.1186/s40748-025-00203-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The transition to motherhood, known as matrescence and comparable to adolescence, involves significant changes across multiple life domains, impacting maternal identity and increasing the risk of psychopathology. Conventional maternal mental health interventions often emphasize crisis management over proactive resilience building. Psychoeducational programs designed to empower and support positive adaptation may offer a beneficial preventative approach. This pilot study evaluates the acceptability, relevance, and effectiveness of a matrescence-informed maternal health education program developed to enhance new mothers' understanding of the complex emotional and social challenges associated with the transition to motherhood.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This study evaluated a six-week, matrescence-informed maternal health education program delivered via Zoom. Eighteen participants (n = 18) attended weekly 75-minute sessions that included lectures, experiential exercises, and group discussions. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered to assess mindfulness, self-compassion, perceived stress, personal growth, and psychological well-being. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired t-tests to compare pre- and post-intervention scores, and qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis to capture participant perceptions of the program's relevance and impact.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The pilot program demonstrated improvements in select psychological measures. While overall mindfulness scores did not change, increases were noted in the subscales of observing, non-judgment, and non-reactivity. Self-compassion scores increased, and participants reported gains in areas such as personal strength, relationships, and spiritual development. Perceived stress and psychological well-being remained unchanged, though environmental mastery showed improvement. Qualitative responses described challenges related to physical and emotional challenges as well as identity shifts. Participants assessed the program to be relevant and useful in addressing the challenges of motherhood and in enhancing their awareness of the concept of matrescence.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Positive participant feedback suggests that matrescence-informed education may offer benefits to new mothers' understanding of their developmental transition and should be disseminated more widely to improve their awareness and literacy. The small sample size highlights the need for larger-scale studies, including randomized controlled trials and longitudinal follow-ups, to evaluate the program's potential in mitigating the risk of poor maternal mental health outcomes. Efforts should be made to reduce barriers to matrescence education and make it affordable and accessible to all.</p>","PeriodicalId":74120,"journal":{"name":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","volume":"11 1","pages":"18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-07-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12220242/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Maternal health, neonatology and perinatology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1186/s40748-025-00203-0","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The transition to motherhood, known as matrescence and comparable to adolescence, involves significant changes across multiple life domains, impacting maternal identity and increasing the risk of psychopathology. Conventional maternal mental health interventions often emphasize crisis management over proactive resilience building. Psychoeducational programs designed to empower and support positive adaptation may offer a beneficial preventative approach. This pilot study evaluates the acceptability, relevance, and effectiveness of a matrescence-informed maternal health education program developed to enhance new mothers' understanding of the complex emotional and social challenges associated with the transition to motherhood.

Methods: This study evaluated a six-week, matrescence-informed maternal health education program delivered via Zoom. Eighteen participants (n = 18) attended weekly 75-minute sessions that included lectures, experiential exercises, and group discussions. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered to assess mindfulness, self-compassion, perceived stress, personal growth, and psychological well-being. Quantitative data were analyzed using paired t-tests to compare pre- and post-intervention scores, and qualitative responses were analyzed using thematic analysis to capture participant perceptions of the program's relevance and impact.

Results: The pilot program demonstrated improvements in select psychological measures. While overall mindfulness scores did not change, increases were noted in the subscales of observing, non-judgment, and non-reactivity. Self-compassion scores increased, and participants reported gains in areas such as personal strength, relationships, and spiritual development. Perceived stress and psychological well-being remained unchanged, though environmental mastery showed improvement. Qualitative responses described challenges related to physical and emotional challenges as well as identity shifts. Participants assessed the program to be relevant and useful in addressing the challenges of motherhood and in enhancing their awareness of the concept of matrescence.

Conclusions: Positive participant feedback suggests that matrescence-informed education may offer benefits to new mothers' understanding of their developmental transition and should be disseminated more widely to improve their awareness and literacy. The small sample size highlights the need for larger-scale studies, including randomized controlled trials and longitudinal follow-ups, to evaluate the program's potential in mitigating the risk of poor maternal mental health outcomes. Efforts should be made to reduce barriers to matrescence education and make it affordable and accessible to all.

改善产妇福祉:新妈妈孕期教育试点研究。
背景:过渡到母亲,被称为孕母期,与青春期相当,涉及多个生活领域的重大变化,影响母亲身份并增加精神病理的风险。传统的孕产妇心理健康干预措施往往强调危机管理,而不是积极的复原力建设。旨在增强和支持积极适应的心理教育项目可能提供有益的预防方法。本试点研究评估了一项关于产妇健康教育计划的可接受性、相关性和有效性,该计划旨在提高新妈妈对与向母亲过渡相关的复杂情感和社会挑战的理解。方法:本研究评估了通过Zoom提供的为期六周的孕产妇健康教育计划。18名参与者(n = 18)参加了每周75分钟的课程,包括讲座、体验练习和小组讨论。干预前和干预后的调查评估了正念、自我同情、感知压力、个人成长和心理健康。定量数据使用配对t检验进行分析,以比较干预前和干预后的得分,定性反应使用主题分析进行分析,以捕捉参与者对计划相关性和影响的看法。结果:试点项目表明,在选择心理措施的改善。虽然整体正念得分没有变化,但观察、非判断和非反应的子量表得分有所上升。自我同情得分提高了,参与者报告在个人力量、人际关系和精神发展等方面有所收获。感知压力和心理健康保持不变,但环境掌控能力有所提高。定性回答描述了与身体和情感挑战以及身份转变相关的挑战。与会者评价该方案在应对母性挑战和提高她们对孕期概念的认识方面具有相关性和实用性。结论:积极的参与者反馈表明,孕期知情教育可能有助于新妈妈了解自己的发展转变,应更广泛地传播,以提高她们的意识和素养。样本量小,说明需要进行更大规模的研究,包括随机对照试验和纵向随访,以评估该方案在减轻产妇心理健康状况不佳风险方面的潜力。应努力减少产妇教育的障碍,使所有人都能负担得起并获得这种教育。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
审稿时长
12 weeks
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:604180095
Book学术官方微信