Mindfulness Based Childbirth & Parenting ( MBCP)

The Mindful Birthing & Parenting Programme (MBCP) was developed by Nancy Bardacke, nurse-midwife, mindfulness teacher and author of Mindful Birthing.

Drawing on years of experience of working with birthing families, her own mindfulness practice, Nancy adapted the MBSR Programme, originally developed by Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn to cater for the needs of expectant parents.

Backed by groundbreaking research in neuroscience, mindfulness meditation, and mind/body medicine, Bardacke offers practices that will help you find calm and ease during this life-changing time, providing lifelong skills for healthy living and wise parenting.​

The Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) course teaches you how to

  • Access deep physical and mental relaxation

  • Engage the mind to work with pain, fear and anxiety during labor

  • Increase your confidence and courage for the experience of labor and delivery

  • Practice prenatal yoga for strength and flexibility

  • Develop skills for managing stress in pregnancy, birthing, parenting, and daily life

  • Enhance partner communication skills

  • Become more aware of your own approach to parenting

The Benefits oF MBCP have been researched and shown to

  • Increased childbirth self-efficacy

  • Increased mindfulness

  • Decreased anxiety

  • Decreased stress

  • Decreased fear of childbirth

  • Decreased pain catastrophizing

  • Decreased depression (including postpartum)

  • Decreased use of non-urgent interventions during labor

  • Increased likelihood of unmedicated birth

  • Changes to the brain's hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function

  • Better partner psychological well-being

  • Higher newborn APGAR scores 1-minute after birth

  • Better maternal-fetal attachment

  • Better infant social-emotional development at 3 months of age than other childbirth education courses

  • Better infant resilience at 6 months of age

For more information about research, please visit here

Research | Mindful Birthing and Parenting | MBCP

Introduction To MCBP workshop

Would you like to know more or try the course? 

Come join us for an afternoon to explore some of the key practices and tools from the Mindful Birthing Programme.

This workshop will include:

  • An introduction to several Mindfulness Practices for birthing & early parenting including breathwork, body scan, mindful movement & more

  • Explore the process of Childbirth and how mindfulness can support you to work with pain, fear and anxiety about giving birth