Shahroud University of Medical siences Shahroud Journal of Medical Sciences 2423-6594 12 1 2025 11 30 Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Group Counseling on Prenatal Anxiety in Primiparous Women 14 22 eng Reyhaneh Abbasi Master of Midwifery Consulting, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. ray_ab@gmail.com Shahrbanoo Goli PhD in Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. sh_gol@gmail.com Maryam Farjamfar Psychiatrist, Faculty of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. Maryam.Farja217@gmail.com Mahboobeh Pourheidari Master of Midwifery, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.. mah_poorheidary@yahoo.com Omid Garkaz Master of Science in Epidemiology, School of Public Health, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. omid.garkaz23@gmail.com Sahar Paryab Master of Science in Pediatric Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran. saharparyab139@gmail.com 2025 08 01 2025 10 07 Background: Anxiety during pregnancy is a natural mechanism for coping with maternal concerns that prepares a woman for specific changes and motherhood. However, this natural anxiety can be exacerbated and pathological during this period, and this study aimed to investigate the effect of mindfulness-based group counseling on pregnancy-related anxiety in primiparous women. Methods: This study was a clinical trial on 56 pregnant mothers (30 controls and 30 test subjects) referred to Mashhad health centers. To collect data, a demographic information checklist, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and Vandenberg Pregnancy Anxiety Questionnaire were used. Data collection occurred in three time periods: before, immediately, and one month after the intervention. After collection, the data was entered into SPSS18 and analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: In this study, the results showed that the average gestational age of the participants in the two groups was 20 weeks. 43.9% of the participants reported their stress level as moderate and 33.3% as severe, and only 10.5% of all had visited a psychiatrist during their lives. Before the intervention, there was no significant difference in the average anxiety score between the two groups, while immediately after the intervention (P-value=0.006) and also one month later (P-value=0.050) a significant decrease in anxiety scores was observed in the intervention group. Conclusions: Given the effectiveness of mindfulness-based group counseling programs in reducing anxiety, planning for implementing these programs during pregnancy should be done.