The Evidence

The Birth Your Way program is grounded in a transdiagnostic evidence-based treatment that has been shown to improve health outcomes by reducing stress and promoting values-based living in hundreds of randomized controlled trials. Since 2013, a multidisciplinary team at the Birth Your Way Center has collaborated with University of Oregon Psychology researchers in the Center for Translational Neuroscience to develop, evaluate and implement perinatal health promotion services utilizing highly rigorous community based participatory research designs. Results of multiple randomized trials conducted since our inception indicate that families who receive Birth Your Way services during pregnancy deliver healthier infants at a reduced cost, have fewer postpartum physical and psychological health complications, and are more likely to engage in nurturing parenting practices that positively effect children’s lifelong health and wellbeing. Birth Your Way families reduce their prenatal stress and engage in healthier prenatal behaviors, including healthier prenatal diet and physical activity regimens. Additionally, Birth Your Way families are more likely to abstain from tobacco and alcohol use throughout the perinatal period. Finally, in line with our theory of change, positive healthy outcomes for birthing families and their newborns are mediated by increased prenatal engagement in a values-based behavioral repertoire.