A Guided Mobile-Based Perinatal Mindfulness Intervention

Psychological distress commonly occurs among women during perinatal period. maternal psychological distress can also bring negative influence on neonatal outcomes, such as infant health, child development or mother-child interaction. Hence, developing interventions to improve mental wellbeing during this period is vital. Mindfulness based intervention (MBI) was found effective in reducing psychological distress. Most currently, delivering MBIs via internet, which is more accessible and inexpensive, shows promising positive effect in reducing psychological distress. However, randomized control trial with sufficient power is await to further confirm the positive effect among pregnant women. Moreover, the positive effects of MBIs was found associated with the heart rate variability biofeedback. However, the efficacy of MBI on HRV is rarely studied among pregnant women. Also, the potential association of HRV between MBI and psychological wellbeing needs further examination. This research aims to test the effectiveness of the Guided-Mobile Based Perinatal Mindfulness Intervention (GMBPMI) among pregnant women experiencing psychological distress during the pre and post-natal period, as well as examining the efficacy of GMBPMI on HRV.