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Promoting Mother-Baby Bonding Through a Relaxation Routine During Pregnancy

NCT02943083 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 106

Last updated 2023-08-01

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The aims of this study are to determine if:

1. during pregnancy, a progressive muscle relaxation and abdominal touch ritual involving a pleasing scent (i.e. a "relaxation ritual") can, acutely, reduce maternal stress and affect the fetus (in terms of movement, changes in heart rate and heart rate variability);
2. a progressive muscle relaxation and abdominal touch ritual involving a pleasing scent (i.e. a "relaxation ritual") during pregnancy can have an effect on mitochondria functioning in the placenta through reducing maternal stress during pregnancy (based on our recent findings (Monk et al, 2016));
3. the scent will come to function as a conditioned stimulus such that exposure to the scent postpartum will induce greater maternal relaxation, which will have an effect on the mother-infant interaction and infant physiology;
4. prenatal maternal exposure to scent combined with abdominal touch will lead to mothers' increased likelihood of utilizing infant massage with a lotion of the same scent postpartum;
5. the prenatal ritual and the increased likelihood of engaging in infant massage will lead to a maternal perception of greater mother-infant bonding, attachment and parenting efficacy, and improved maternal mood;
6. the prenatal ritual and the increased likelihood of engaging in infant massage will lead to improved performance on the conjugate reinforcement paradigm conditioning task administered to infants at 4 months of age

Conditions

  • Psychological Stress in Pregnancy

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Relaxation Exercise

Groups receiving the intervention will be asked to engage in the relaxation protocol every day. Participants will be asked to continue practicing the relaxation protocol for the remainder of their pregnancy. Participants will be instructed to listen to the 7 minute guided muscle relaxation tape and engage in the 3 minute abdominal touch routine in the presence of the scent stick. Participants will be provided with a scent stick of their selected scent to take home. For the duration of the study, participants will be loaned standard headphones and an iPod Touch that contains only the guided progressive muscle relaxation audio recording to facilitate this at-home protocol.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Johnson & Johnson

    collaborator INDUSTRY

  • New York State Psychiatric Institute

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Catherine Monk, Ph.D. · Columbia University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Model
FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
45 Years
Sex
FEMALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2016-10-31
Primary Completion
2023-06-30
Completion
2023-06-30

Countries

  • United States

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT02943083 on ClinicalTrials.gov