Currently submitted to: JMIR Pediatrics and Parenting
Date Submitted: Jun 9, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Jun 10, 2026 - Aug 5, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Effect of Spiritual-Based Clinical Hypnotherapy on Maternal Anxiety and Infant Weight Gain Among Breastfeeding Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Maternal anxiety during breastfeeding is a common and clinically significant condition that may negatively affect maternal well-being, breastfeeding practices, and infant growth outcomes. While hypnotherapy and spiritual-based interventions have individually demonstrated benefits in reducing anxiety, evidence on integrative approaches combining both modalities remains limited
Objective:
This study aimed to evaluate the effect of spiritual-based clinical hypnotherapy on maternal anxiety levels among breastfeeding mothers and to examine the association between reductions in maternal anxiety and infant weight gain
Methods:
: A randomized controlled pre–post study was conducted involving 50 breastfeeding mothers recruited from three primary healthcare centers in Bone District, Indonesia. Participants were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n= 25), receiving spiritual-based clinical hypnotherapy, or a control group (n= 25), receiving guided spiritual care without hypnotherapy. The intervention was delivered twice weekly for eight weeks. Maternal anxiety was assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS), and infant weight gain was measured over a two-month follow-up period. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Pearson correlation analysis.
Results:
At baseline, HARS scores were comparable between groups. Following the intervention, both groups demonstrated significant reductions in anxiety levels (P<.001); however, the reduction was substantially greater in the intervention group (−7.88) compared to the control group (−3.08). A significant time × group interaction was observed (P<.001), with a large effect size (partial η²=.634), indicating a strong intervention effect. Furthermore, a statistically significant positive correlation was found between reduction in maternal anxiety and infant weight gain (r=.640, P<.001), suggesting that greater improvements in maternal psychological well-being were associated with greater infant weight gain.
Conclusions:
Spiritual-based clinical hypnotherapy is an effective non-pharmacological intervention for reducing maternal anxiety among breastfeeding mothers and may contribute to improved infant growth outcomes. This study provides novel evidence supporting the integration of psychological and spiritual approaches within maternal health care, highlighting its potential as a culturally adaptable and clinically meaningful strategy.
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