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about mbcp
Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) is an evidence-based program for expectant parents that integrates mindfulness skills and practice with childbirth and parenting education.
>> Mindfulness is the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.
– Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD
Founded in 1998, by nurse-midwife Nancy Bardacke, CNM, the MBCP program is one of the first adaptations of the world-renowned Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program (MBSR) founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. In the years since its inception, thousands of expectant parents have used MBCP to help them navigate the transformational processes of pregnancy and childbirth, as well as the intense, joyful, and sometimes stressful experiences of being a parent.
My initial thought when I began the class was this would be a birth class that I might get something else out of. What it's ended up being for me is a life-perspective-altering class that's going to help with our birth. It's not about the birth anymore. It's going to help us with our birth, but it's not about the birth. It's about our lives.
– Will & Victoria
about our founder
Nancy Bardacke, CNM, MA, MBCP Founding Director
Nancy Bardacke, midwife, mindfulness teacher, and the founding director of the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program, has been assisting birthing families since 1971. A longtime meditation practitioner, Nancy began her professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reductions (MBSR) with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, in 1994. After teaching MBSR for a number of years, Nancy began adapting the program to meet the needs of pregnant women and their partners, creating the MBCP program. Nancy has taught MBCP to more than 1500 expectant parents and has trained hundreds of MBCP teachers across six continents.
Nancy was an Assistant Clinical Professor in the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) School of Nursing and served as the Director of the MBCP program at the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at UCSF until she retired from those positions in 2017 in order to give her full attention to developing the Mindful Birthing and Parenting Foundation and the MBCP Teacher Training program. Nancy and her colleague, Larissa Duncan, PhD, Director of the Center for Child and Family Well-Being, School of Human Ecology at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, have developed a robust research program to study the impact of mindfulness skills in reducing stress, and anxiety during pregnancy, pain during childbirth, and enhanced attunement between parents and their infants after birth. Nancy is also in collaboration with colleagues globally who are developing MBCP Instructor Training Courses, as well as researchers who are studying the impact of the MBCP program on expectant parents and their babies.
Nancy’s award-winning book, Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond was published in July 2012 by HarperOne and has been translated into Dutch, German, French, Turkish, Romanian, Hungarian, Italian, Spanish, and Chinese. Nancy was named one of Mindful magazine's "10 Powerful Women of the Mindfulness Movement" in 2021.
about our faculty
about our BOARD
The Mindful Birthing and Parenting Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that provides Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) education and training to parents, health professionals, healthcare organizations, and researchers in order to improve perinatal outcomes and relational wellbeing.
Nancy Bardacke,
CNM, MA
President Emeritus
Elizabeth O'Toole,
MSPF
Secretary
Larissa Duncan,
PhD
Board Member
Mariela Quesada Centeno,
PhD
Board Member
Kimberly Streeter,
PhD
Vice President/CFO
Steve Hickman,
PsyD
Treasurer
Eluned Gold,
MSc, RMN, PGCE
Board Member
The Mindful Birthing and Parenting Foundation is also supported by a wonderful Board of Advisors, including:
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Barry Boyce, Editor-in-Chief, Mindful Magazine
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Rebecca Crane, PhD, Director, Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University
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Steve Hickman, PsyD, Executive Director, Center for Mindful Self-Compassion
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Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD, Founding Director, Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School
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Myla Kabat-Zinn, BSN, RN, Everyday Blessings: The Inner Work of Mindful Parenting
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Dacher Keltner, PhD, Founding Director, Greater Good Science Center; Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley
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Patricia Lück, MD, Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, University of Rochester School of Medicine
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Helen Ma, PhD, Founder, Center for Mindfulness, Hong Kong
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Michelle Maldonado, J.D., Founder & CEO, Lucenscia
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Jason Marsh, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Greater Good; Executive Director, Greater Good Science Center
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Emiliana Simon-Thomas, PhD, Science Director, Greater Good Science Center
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Bob Stahl, PhD, Mindfulness Center at Brown School of Public Health
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Mark Williams, DPhil, Founding Director, University of Oxford Mindfulness Centre
