title: Mindfulness in antenatal classes: A quasi-experimental pilot study

authors: Irving, Tracey Ann

subjects: mindfulness

abstract: Pregnancy is a major life transition, and entails high levels of change and uncertainty which, for some parents, can elicit anxiety and distress. Mindfulness practices may help people to cope with uncertainty and change. This study explores whether adding mindfulness to antenatal classes is acceptable and helpful for mothers and fathers, and whether participants use these skills during pregnancy, birth, and the early postnatal period. It also explores whether it is feasible to incorporate mindfulness into an existing comprehensive antenatal education curriculum.
The study compared the experiences of participants in two sets of antenatal classes with the same curriculum, except for the addition of a brief weekly mindfulness exercise and associated handout for one of the two groups. The two-hour classes were run over six weeks for pregnant women in their third trimester and their partners. Two separate trials were carried out consecutively – Trial A and Trial B. Trial A included 23 participants in the intervention group and 15 in the comparison group. Thirty-eight people were in the Trial B intervention group and 32 in the comparison group. However, practical barriers led to the Trial B intervention being minimally delivered and therefore data from Trial B were not analysed.
Pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaires measured pregnancy-related anxiety, psychological distress, and mindfulness. Acceptability of the mindfulness intervention and satisfaction with the antenatal classes was measured post-intervention. Psychological distress, mindfulness, and overall birth experience were measured one-month postnatally. 
Findings showed no statistically significant reductions in psychological distress or pregnancy-related anxiety for either group.  There were also no significant increases in mindfulness. Although not statistically significant, participants in the mindfulness group may have had a slightly better birth experience; however, this is difficult to establish with certainty. People in the mindfulness group generally enjoyed the classes overall and reported having learned some useful skills; however, most did not practice mindfulness outside of class.
The results of this pilot study suggest that it may be feasible to incorporate mindfulness into typical antenatal classes if adaptations are made so that it can be more smoothly integrated into the existing curriculum. Further research is needed into the feasibility of mindfulness in antenatal classes using a mindfulness programme which addresses the challenges identified in this study. This may have implications for the potential inclusion of brief mindfulness interventions across a variety of health and social settings.

text: Mindfulness in antenatal classes: A quasi-experimental pilot study Pregnancy is a major life transition, and entails high levels of change and uncertainty which, for some parents, can elicit anxiety and distress. Mindfulness practices may help people to cope with uncertainty and change. This study explores whether adding mindfulness to antenatal classes is acceptable and helpful for mothers and fathers, and whether participants use these skills during pregnancy, birth, and the early postnatal period. It also explores whether it is feasible to incorporate mindfulness into an existing comprehensive antenatal education curriculum.
The study compared the experiences of participants in two sets of antenatal classes with the same curriculum, except for the addition of a brief weekly mindfulness exercise and associated handout for one of the two groups. The two-hour classes were run over six weeks for pregnant women in their third trimester and their partners. Two separate trials were carried out consecutively – Trial A and Trial B. Trial A included 23 participants in the intervention group and 15 in the comparison group. Thirty-eight people were in the Trial B intervention group and 32 in the comparison group. However, practical barriers led to the Trial B intervention being minimally delivered and therefore data from Trial B were not analysed.
Pre-intervention and post-intervention questionnaires measured pregnancy-related anxiety, psychological distress, and mindfulness. Acceptability of the mindfulness intervention and satisfaction with the antenatal classes was measured post-intervention. Psychological distress, mindfulness, and overall birth experience were measured one-month postnatally. 
Findings showed no statistically significant reductions in psychological distress or pregnancy-related anxiety for either group.  There were also no significant increases in mindfulness. Although not statistically significant, participants in the mindfulness group may have had a slightly better birth experience; however, this is difficult to establish with certainty. People in the mindfulness group generally enjoyed the classes overall and reported having learned some useful skills; however, most did not practice mindfulness outside of class.
The results of this pilot study suggest that it may be feasible to incorporate mindfulness into typical antenatal classes if adaptations are made so that it can be more smoothly integrated into the existing curriculum. Further research is needed into the feasibility of mindfulness in antenatal classes using a mindfulness programme which addresses the challenges identified in this study. This may have implications for the potential inclusion of brief mindfulness interventions across a variety of health and social settings.

year: 2020

title: Terms of empowerment: Gender, ecology, and ICTs for development

authors: Kurian, Priya A.

subjects: technology

abstract: The obsession with technology as a primary tool for development without any regard for the social and cultural needs of society has not done much to help the cause of women or other disempowered groups. The accent on technology for technology’s sake is part of a masculinist worldview characterised by the tendency to equate technical competence with male gender identity (Judy Wajcman 1995). As a counter, a feminist approach to technology looks at ways of dealing with core life-sustaining issues of food, clothing, shelter, education, and a general sense of well being (Debashish Munshi and Priya Kurian 2003). Indeed, as Ingunn Moser (1995: 6) points out, science and technology are not only “social and cultural projects, formed in power structures and coloured by dominating values in the societies and the cultures in which they occur” but are political as well.

text: Terms of empowerment: Gender, ecology, and ICTs for development The obsession with technology as a primary tool for development without any regard for the social and cultural needs of society has not done much to help the cause of women or other disempowered groups. The accent on technology for technology’s sake is part of a masculinist worldview characterised by the tendency to equate technical competence with male gender identity (Judy Wajcman 1995). As a counter, a feminist approach to technology looks at ways of dealing with core life-sustaining issues of food, clothing, shelter, education, and a general sense of well being (Debashish Munshi and Priya Kurian 2003). Indeed, as Ingunn Moser (1995: 6) points out, science and technology are not only “social and cultural projects, formed in power structures and coloured by dominating values in the societies and the cultures in which they occur” but are political as well.

year: 2003

title: New Zealand history is Maori history: Tikanga as the ethical foundation of historical scholarship In Aotearoa New Zealand

authors: Mahuika, Nepia

subjects: Arts & Humanities

abstract: IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO FIND that New Zealand history is Māori history. In 1987 when Tipene O’Regan stated that the ‘the past belongs to all New Zealanders, but first it is ours’, he was drawing attention to New Zealand history’s foundation in Māori history.1 Thinking about New Zealand history as Māori history does not mean denying the histories of European, Asian and Pasifika immigrants, but draws attention to the notion that ‘settler’ aspirations to claim ‘Aotearoa’ as home occur within a much broader narrative of indigenous occupation and struggle.2 Indeed, how can New Zealand history be the story of ‘here’ when it has ‘othered’ indigenous narratives that speak to the heart of what it is to belong in the land of the long white cloud? Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – and that presents a problem for tangata whenua self-determination. Likewise, for Pākehā, it is an issue because until New Zealand history recognizes and enables the centrality of Māori history it will always fail to articulate the collective ‘us’ that is so often assumed in the discourse of ‘full and final settlement’.3 In its current form it will never be able to ethically or adequately account for the shaping of a New Zealand identity that finds ‘composure’ in the story of how Pākehā became ‘native’ New Zealanders.4 For Māori, these issues are keenly felt, because while New Zealand history has always been about us, it has predominantly been articulated on the colonizers’ terms. In the ‘discursive constructions’ that are New Zealand histories, the indigenous have regularly been culturally appropriated, dislocated and misrepresented.5 Even when Māori have turned their back on the writing of New Zealand history it has been, and will still be, a history of being or becoming ‘native’. Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – so why does it feel like the story of Pākehā settlers?

text: New Zealand history is Maori history: Tikanga as the ethical foundation of historical scholarship In Aotearoa New Zealand IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO FIND that New Zealand history is Māori history. In 1987 when Tipene O’Regan stated that the ‘the past belongs to all New Zealanders, but first it is ours’, he was drawing attention to New Zealand history’s foundation in Māori history.1 Thinking about New Zealand history as Māori history does not mean denying the histories of European, Asian and Pasifika immigrants, but draws attention to the notion that ‘settler’ aspirations to claim ‘Aotearoa’ as home occur within a much broader narrative of indigenous occupation and struggle.2 Indeed, how can New Zealand history be the story of ‘here’ when it has ‘othered’ indigenous narratives that speak to the heart of what it is to belong in the land of the long white cloud? Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – and that presents a problem for tangata whenua self-determination. Likewise, for Pākehā, it is an issue because until New Zealand history recognizes and enables the centrality of Māori history it will always fail to articulate the collective ‘us’ that is so often assumed in the discourse of ‘full and final settlement’.3 In its current form it will never be able to ethically or adequately account for the shaping of a New Zealand identity that finds ‘composure’ in the story of how Pākehā became ‘native’ New Zealanders.4 For Māori, these issues are keenly felt, because while New Zealand history has always been about us, it has predominantly been articulated on the colonizers’ terms. In the ‘discursive constructions’ that are New Zealand histories, the indigenous have regularly been culturally appropriated, dislocated and misrepresented.5 Even when Māori have turned their back on the writing of New Zealand history it has been, and will still be, a history of being or becoming ‘native’. Yes, New Zealand history is Māori history – so why does it feel like the story of Pākehā settlers?

year: 2015