Abstract:

Maternal health has been increasingly described as a multi-faceted phenomenon that includes physical, psychological, social and behavioural health in pregnancy, at the time of delivery and in the postpartum period. Although huge progress has been made in maternal care, it is evident that psychological issues like stress, anxiety, depression and emotional exhaustion, as well as issues related to parenting, are common and important and need attention, and protective psychological resources need to be identified to support maternal wellbeing. The purpose of the current review paper is to explore how self-compassion is one of the factors that influence maternal mental health and to summarize along with psychological theories, that relate to self-compassion. Based on the work of the following theorists, the review provides an explanation of how self-compassion positively influences psychological functioning, buffers emotional exhaustion associated with caregiving, and ameliorates negative consequences of multiple demands of the maternal role. Numerous studies have found positive links between increased levels of self-compassion and reduced stress, anxiety, postpartum depression, parenting burnout, emotional regulation, resilience, being more mindful, mother self-efficacy, and positive relationships with the infant. The theoretical synthesis also implies that self-compassion is a multidimensional protective resource, helping adaptively cope and psychological adjustment during transition to motherhood. The review emphasizes the need to incorporate SBCIs into maternal health care, prenatal education, and psychological counseling to enhance maternal mental health outcomes. It also provides a call to action for long-term, culturally diverse, and intervention-driven research to determine causal pathways and improve the delivery of compassion-based approaches in maternal health care. In conclusion, the review can be seen as a hopeful psychological approach toward achieving maternal wellness and advancing the science of maternal mental health.

Keywords:

Maternal Health and Self-Compassion in relation to Pregnancy and Postpartum Mental Health, Psychological Well-Being, Resilience, Mindfulness.

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