Brain Training to Facilitate Labor and Birth: Impact of a Mobile Health Application

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of cognitive training strategies, inclusive of mindfulness-based techniques and pain neuroscience education (PNE), during pregnancy. Using a pre-posttest design, primiparous women seeking a physiological birth used a novel mobile application (GentleBirth) and a web-based PNE course as a means of labor/birth preparation. Self-report questionnaires at baseline, prebirth, and postbirth assessed all studied outcomes (pain knowledge, pain and birth self-efficacy, and birth outcomes). Use of the GentleBirth app combined with PNE during pregnancy was associated with improved pain knowledge, χ2(2) = 95.9, p < .001, and birth self-efficacy, F(2, 268) = 71.54, p < .001; high rates of labor coping, 7.48 (standard deviation 2.29); and lower rates of cesarean births and epidural use.