Enhancing psychological wellbeing of women approaching the childbirth: A controlled study with a mobile application

Pregnancy is a critical period in a woman's life, a time of great physical and psychological changes. Maternal prenatal anxiety and stress are often present and associated with fear of labor and with possible negative outcomes for both mother and child. To help pregnant women to manage better their affective state and childbirth expectations the mobile app BenEssere Mamma was developed. The app consists of a self-help protocol containing mindfulness meditation and relaxation exercises. The purpose of this investigation is to test the efficacy of BenEssere Mamma as a complementary tool to existing childbirth class on delivery expectancy and psychological wellbeing. Currently, seventy-eight Italian primiparous women have been enrolled in the randomized controlled study including the app group and the control group without intervention. Pre-post comparison showed an improvement in delivery expectations for both groups (less Lack of Confidence, less Fear and Negative Feelings). Concerning psychological wellbeing, all scales remained stable in both groups except for the Autonomy scale which increased in the experimental group while decreased in control group (significant interaction effects). The study is ongoing and a future goal is to investigate post-partum changes. To stimulate a higher use of the app over time, further studies are encouraged to integrate the use of the app with childbirth classes.