The effect of mindfulness-based childbirth education intervention on fear of childbirth: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the effect size of mindfulness-based childbirth education on the fear of childbirth.

Methods: In this study, the meta-analysis method, one of the methods of synthesising quantitative research, was used. EBSCO, PubMed, Google Scholar, WOS, and CINAHL databases were used to determine the studies to be included in the meta-analysis. The keywords such as "mindfulness", "fear of childbirth", "mindfulness-based childbirth", "mindfulness education" and "childbirth" were searched in the international literature. Four experimental studies published between 2013 and 2022 that aimed to determine the effect of mindfulness-based childbirth education on the fear of childbirth, had a full text available and met the inclusion criteria, were included in the study.

Results: On the analysis of the data, mindfulness-based childbirth education was found to be effective in reducing the fear of childbirth (standard mean difference [SMD]=0.117, 95%CI: -1.049: -0.419, p<0.001, I2=36.98%). The results of this meta-analysis indicated that mindfulness-based education provided to pregnant women was found to be effective in reducing the fear of childbirth.

Conclusion: Mindfulness-based childbirth education is considered to be used as an effective non-pharmacological midwifery and nursing intervention in reducing the fear of childbirth in pregnant women. This review was preregistered on PROSPERO (Ref No: CRD42022316472).