Both pregnancy and the postpartum phase can be an extremely stressful time for mothers, as the adjust to a variety of changes and challenges – but that’s where mindfulness comes in. This form of mediation guides individuals to focus on their sensations and feelings in the moment, free from interpretation or judgment. It’s been proven to have a variety of benefits on one’s physical health, including by lowering stress and blood pressure, reducing chronic pain, treating heart disease and gastrointestinal problems, and improving sleep, Mayo Clinic explains.

With its ability to improve overall physical health, mindfulness is a great technique to incorporate for people of all ages and lifestyles. But research shows that mindfulness stands to have an especially positive impact on pregnancy and postpartum. A recent study demonstrated that practicing mindfulness can reduce anxieties and fear over labor, decrease the need for pain relief, and even more, it can reduce the risk and symptoms of prenatal and postnatal depression.

RELATED: Why You Should Practice Mindfulness During The Postpartum Phase & Beyond

BabyGaga recently had the chance to speak to midwife Tracy Donegan about the value of practicing mindfulness in pregnancy and postpartum. Donegan is the author of Mindful Pregnancy, which provides expectant mothers advice for practicing mindfulness trimester by trimester. It aims to help women better understand their bodies and enjoy their pregnancies through various meditation techniques and other natural remedies. Donegan is also the founder of the GentleBirth Positive Birth App, which helps expectant parents prepare for a positive birth experience by offering a variety of resources, including mindful meditation sessions. Below, Donegan provides her expert advice on how to start practicing mindfulness in pregnancy and postpartum, its benefits, and how to get your partner and older children involved.

Alexandra Sakellariou for BabyGaga (BG): Mindfulness is a form of mediation that helps individuals focus and live in the moment. Can you explain a bit of what this practice entails? What is mindfulness?

Tracy Donegan (TD): Mindfulness is often defined as being in the moment, expert Diana Winston defines the practice as “Paying attention to present moment experience with open curiosity and a willingness to be with what is”. It’s not about sitting on a gluten free cushion chanting for hours but a way of being IN your life rather than IN your head travelling to worry in the future or replaying an upsetting encounter with someone in the supermarket.

A simple example would be to have a mindful shower which basically means you use all of your senses to keep your mind in the shower rather than preparing for your Monday staff meeting. You intentionally notice the smell of your favourite shampoo, the feeling of the water on your body, the condensation on the glass. A few seconds into breathing in the fragrance of your coconut shampoo your mind will literally leave the building and you find yourself mentally in the supermarket. When realizing that your mind is no longer in the shower you gently bring your attention back to being in the shower again. It’s harder than it sounds as your brains are wired to wander.

(BG): You’re the founder the GentleBirth Positive Birth App, which helps prepare expecting parents for the birthing experience. What inspired you to create the app?

(TD): Most parents reading this know more about how their smartphone works than they do about their own minds. Learning mindfulness helps parents start to become aware of stressful thought patterns so they’re less likely to get emotionally hijacked by a passing thought which increases adrenaline during labor and slowing it down and making it more painful.

Expectant and new parents are experiencing more stress than ever before but without the tools to help them manage this stress and protect their mental health. So many women are worried about labour and focus on everything that can go wrong when in fact most of the time things go really well. Most of the worry women experience is because we believe everything we think (thoughts are not facts). We inherited two important functions of the brain that cause us no end of trouble especially during pregnancy. Our brain is always focused on scanning our environment for threats but it often gets it wrong and as brilliant as your brain is it can’t tell the difference between something you’re vividly imagining and something that’s happening to you right now. We don’t have to worry about being chased by a bear in our modern lives but opening that post Xmas credit card bill can be perceived as a life/death situation by the brain.

We also have a mind that wanders off about 50% of the time – the problem is it doesn’t usually wander off to sunny beaches but to worry about labour etc. You’re training yourself to become a ‘nosey neighbour’ of your own mind and learning to be very gentle with what you find.

(BG): The GentleBirth app offers mindful meditation sessions. In your experience, what are some of the benefits you’ve observed from pregnant women practicing mindfulness, specifically in the context of giving birth?

(TD): There’s an abundance of well researched benefits to learning simple meditation practices for labour. Meditation reduces changes pain perception in the brain and reduces the emotional response to pain significantly. Moms also find it helps them to stay calmer and not panic in labour as it acts as a buffer to stress and even birth trauma. Meditation changes the structure of the brain. Areas associated with positive mood grow and the areas of the brain associated with stress and the fight/flight response grow smaller.

One aspect I find particularly beneficial is mindful acceptance. Birth can be unpredictable so having the mental flexibility to accept unexpected changes to your birth preferences can have a big impact on how you experience your labour and postpartum. Being able to focus and ask important questions if things change suddenly is a skill that can be cultivated instead of what we often hear ‘everything went out the window’. Parents can then make decisions from a place of calm rather than chaos.

(BG): On a similar note, what are some of the benefits mindfulness can have for mothers during the postpartum phase and beyond?

(TD): This is an aspect where the benefits are even more important. Mindfulness practice during pregnancy is associated with less prenatal and postpartum anxiety and depression. As mothers, we are particularly hard on ourselves and have high expectations. When we don’t meet these expectations, we doubt ourselves and our abilities as mothers. Mindful acceptance is essential during this time especially when we’re struggling with our new identity, lack of sleep, lack of control and our changed body. We forget that we are learning on the job when we are not at our best mentally or physically.

Mindful self-compassion is a specific practice of extending ourselves the same kindness and care we give to our vulnerable newborns – but it’s not something most women find easy to do. If we spoke to ourselves the way we would speak to a best friend who was upset we would find postpartum a lot less stressful. The intense postpartum transition can also be a challenge for our relationships but mindfulness is shown to impact relationships in a positive way with our partners.

(BG): How long do you typically recommend individuals practice mindfulness in one session? Should they increase the amount as they get better with practice?

(TD): You can mindfully do everything you are already doing…taking a mindful shower, mindfully eating your lunch, mindful movement but to begin a formal practice just start with 1 minute…notice the feeling of your breath in your body and noticing how quickly your mind loves to wander off. Set the bar really low so in the beginning, you can easily find 1 minute during even the busiest day to just be. Try to be consistent and go to 2 minutes a week later…and work up to 5 minutes.

Once you’re in a habit of sitting for those 5 minutes and you’re noticing the benefits of feeling less stressed and more calm most parents increase their ‘on cushion’ time as they enjoy it so much. Find what works for you – 15 – 20 minutes feels like a lot when you’re just getting started so work up to longer periods. Meditation isn’t a relaxation technique which is a common misconception – it doesn’t stop stress, it just helps us change our relationship with stressful thoughts (where most of our stress comes from).

(BG): It would be an understatement to say that many parents struggle to get a moment alone, especially with a newborn. How do you recommend postpartum women work mindfulness into their daily routine? Do you have any tips? What are the benefits it can have on their mental health recovery post-birth?

(TD): We did not evolve to be alone with a newborn - we are supposed to be surrounded by a village to support the new mother but that’s not possible at the moment. Parents can mindfully change a diaper, feed mindfully (rather than scrolling on your phone) and practice self-compassion on the difficult days. Reminding yourself that like the weather patterns outside, our inner weather patterns of emotions change hourly. When you’re having a particularly stormy day of emotions we can remember that the storm will pass and the blue sky is always there. Mindfulness gives us a little more headspace to not become overwhelmed by intensity of postpartum emotions.

(BG): Is it possible for partners to practice mindfulness together? If so, what are some of the benefits couples may derive from doing mindfulness exercises together?

(TD): Yes it’s a wonderful way to connect during pregnancy and reduce stress. Partners are often sidelined in maternity services yet they have their own anxieties about labour and becoming a new parent. I suggest parents practice a guided Body Scan in the evenings to help unwind and reduce insomnia.

(BG): Similarly, can parents get their children involved with mindfulness mediation? Is there a specific age you recommend they do so? And what are some tips to get started?

(TD): We can start early on especially with toddlers as they have limited capacity for regulating their emotions. A simple exercise is to name emotions and where they feel they are happening in their body. “I feel angry and when that happens my face gets red”. This is the simple ‘name it to tame it’ practice which reduces activity in the stress center of the brain (works great for adults too).

Finding the focus and motivation to begin meditation can be one of the hardest parts. What’s your best advice for mothers looking to begin practicing mindfulness?

(TD): Think of it as a fitness program for your brain. Just like any exercise program it can be hard to stay motivated but the more you practice the sooner you and your baby get to experience the benefits (even before your baby is born by changing your response to stress). Connect with a community that will encourage you to practice regularly, and as I mentioned earlier start small and be kind to yourself.

(BG): Although it’s possible to practice mindfulness anywhere, one’s surroundings can greatly impact their ability to focus on their exercises. What’s the best sort of environment to practice mindfulness in?

(TD): When starting off find a quiet place where you can be undisturbed for a few moments. Sit upright with your back straight and your feet on the floor on a chair or cushion. I like to start my day meditating before the house gets busy. It sets my mood for the day and I feel I am more focused and kinder to myself. If you are at home with a toddler even that can be tricky. Even 2 minutes of slow focused breathing sitting in the bathroom can recharge you physically and mentally. I have a corner of my bedroom where I practice so it feels like more like a sacred space. Incense is not required but you can create a ritual around those few moments of practice which can help soothe the nervous system and support mental health.

(BG): Finally, what are some easy mindfulness exercises expecting or postpartum moms can try at home?

(TD): One of the foundation practices of mindful meditation is to simply sit (or stand) and notice the feeling of your breath moving in and out of your body. You can keep your eyes slightly open. You can do a standing meditation even in the supermarket instead of scrolling on your phone. Feel your feet on the ground, notice areas of your body that are tight…find those soft spots too…If you’re sitting notice and the sensation of those contact points of your body on the chair, the delicious smell of your baby in your arms. As your mind wanders gently guide it back to the feeling of the breath in the body kindly and without judgment.

Another easy practice is to use sound as your anchor. Simply sit and notice sounds that come into your experience… it could be the sound of a bird singing, traffic outside, the sound of your baby breathing… the hum of a heater. Notice the stories your mind starts to create and as you become aware of those thoughts simply refocus on that sound again.

Thank you so much to Tracy Donegan for speaking to BabyGaga! To learn more about how mindfulness may benefit you in pregnancy, we encourage you to speak to your doctor.

NEXT: Practicing Mindfulness With Your Partner & Child Strengthens Your Bonds In Pregnancy

Sources: BMC, Mayo Clinic,