Mindfulness-Based Interventions During Pregnancy, Including Mindful Eating: A Systematic Review of Effects on Health...

Beneficial effects of mindful eating-based interventions during pregnancy have been reported.

This study aimed to synthesize the available evidence on the effects of mindfulness-based interventions during pregnancy that incorporate a mindful eating (ME) protocol on the health and well-being of pregnant women, including mental health, body metabolism (weight gain and/or blood glucose levels), eating behavior, and physical activity levels.

The search was conducted in the Medline, Web of Science, PsycArticles, Embase, Scopus, Food Science Source, CINAHL, and Google Scholar databases.

Studies that describe ME-based interventions in pregnant women were identified. Risk of bias was determined using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal tool, and the level of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system.

Of the 489 articles identified, only 4 non-randomized intervention studies met the inclusion criteria. All selected studies used the "Mindful Motherhood Training" protocol and employed validated methods for measuring outcomes. The studies assessed the impact of the intervention on mental health and revealed significant reductions in stress and depressive symptoms, and significant increases in physical activity, among other outcomes.

Although they showed that there are potentially benefits from ME interventions, particularly in contributing to mental health (reduction in depressive symptoms) and increasing physical activity levels, the included studies were assessed as being exploratory in nature, of low methodological quality, having inconsistent results, and having aspects of serious concern regarding the certainty domain. Improvements in the quality of the ME interventions during pregnancy are necessary.

PROSPERO registration No. CRD42024496025.