About Nancy

Nancy Bardacke is a nurse-midwife, mindfulness teacher, and founding director of the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program which she currently teaches at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. She also leads a Professional Development and Teacher Training Program in MBCP through the Mindful Birthing and Parenting Foundation as well as a 6 day training retreat through UC San Diego’s Center for Mindfulness.  Nancy is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the UCSF School of Nursing. 

Nancy began assisting birthing families four decades ago; she has been a meditation practitioner since 1982.  Her professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD. began 18 years ago and she has taught MBSR courses in hospitals for patients with a wide variety of health challenges. In 1998 Nancy began developing her pioneering Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting program and has now taught 68 MBCP courses and numerous mindfulness workshops to several thousand expectant parents. 

Nancy has also taught mindfulness courses and workshops for healthcare professionals both nationally and internationally, and now collaborates with colleagues at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre at Oxford University to develop an MBCP training course in the UK as well as with colleagues in the Netherlands and Germany. Nancy and her colleague Larissa Duncan, PhD, also at the UCSF Osher Center, 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’s book, Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond (Foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD) was published by HarperCollins July 10, 2012.  Mindful Birthing will soon be available in German, Dutch, French and Turkish editions. 

Nancy's CV

EDUCATION:

1981                Nurse-Midwife Certification, University of California, San Francisco

1976                RN, BSN, PHN, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco

1972                MA Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley (UCB)

1966                BA Anthropology (with honors), University of California, Berkeley

ADDITIONAL TRAINING:

1999              Teacher Development Intensive for Advanced Mindfulness Instructors; Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA.

1996              Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Professional Internship, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA.  Preceptor: Bob Stahl, Ph.D.

1994 & 1995   Professional Training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Mind-Body Medicine with Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD and Saki Santorelli, EdD; Mt Madonna Center, Watsonville, CA. Sponsored by the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care and Society, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA.

ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS:

2006 - present Assistant Clinical Professor, Dept. of Family Health Care Nursing, School of Nursing, UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco, CA

1994-98           Clinical Faculty, Ob/Gyn Nurse Practitioner and Nurse-Midwifery Education, Education Programs Associates, San Jose State University

EMPLOYMENT (condensed):

2007- present  Instructor, Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program, Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, UCSF Medical Center

2008 - present  Instructor, Professional Development and Teacher Training in Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP),  Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, UCSF Medical Center

1998 - present  Founding Director, Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting (MBCP) Program, Oakland, CA.

1998- 2007      Instructor, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, CA.  Institute for Health and Healing and the Perinatal Education and Lactation Center.

1995- 1998     Instructor, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, CA

1990-1998      Prenatal, postpartum, gyn/well-woman care in community clinics serving vulnerable populations, SF Bay Area

1982-1990      Full Scope Midwifery, Bay Area Midwifery Service, Mt. Zion Hospital, San Francisco         

PRESENTATIONS, WORKSHOPS and RETREATS (most recent)

2012    Connecting the Dots: Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: Presentation, International Symposia for Contemplative Studies, Denver, CO

2012    Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: 5 Day Professional Training             Retreat.  Joshua Tree Retreat Center, Yucca Valley, CA

2011    Mindful Birthing-Mindful Living: A Self-Care Weekend Workshop for Perinatal Health Professionals. Omega Institute, Rhinebeck, NY.

2011    Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: A Training Workshop for Midwives and Mental Health Professionals, Oxford Mindfulness Centre, Wamford Hospital, Oxford, England 

2010    Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: Stress Reduction in the Perinatal Period. Workshop for Midwifery Faculty and Midwives, Kyoto, Japan

2010    Enhancing CenteringPregnancy ® with Mindfulness Skills. Co-presenter: Larissa Duncan. PhD, The Power of Connection CenteringPregnancy Conference, San Antonio, TX

2009    A pilot study of the Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting Program: Preliminary evidence of improvements in maternal stress and coping in the perinatal period. Center for Mindfulness 7th Annual International Conference, Worcester, MA.

2009    Mindfulness Skills for the Perinatal Provider and The Expectant Family, Infant-Parent Perinatal Service, Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, England

2008    28^th Annual Women’s Health Update “Mindfulness-Based Strategies for Promoting Health and Well-Being in Pregnancy and Childbirth” Presentation, San Francisco Airport Marriott, Burlingame, CA

2008    The Power of Connection: Building Community through Group Care “Exploring the Potential: Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Life Skills for CenteringPregnancy and CenteringParenting” Workshop, Sheraton Hotel, Indianapolis, Indiana 

2008    Seeds of Compassion Conference: With His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 5-day      community–focused event exploring the relationships, programs and tools that nurture and empower children, families and communities to be compassionate members of society. “Mindful Parenting”, Presentation, Seattle Convention Center, Seattle, WA.

2007    UC Davis Office of Continuing Medical Education and the Division of Pain Medicine: Alternative and Integrative Medicine for Pain Management Conference, “Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting”, Presentation, Four Seasons Resort, Lanai, Hawaii

2007    The National Center of Excellence in Women's Health: "Mindfulness- Based            Childbirth and Parenting Education: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond", Presentation, UC San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA

2007    UCSF 9th Annual Integrative Medicine Forum: "Mindfulness-Based   Childbirth and Parenting: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond", Workshop, UC San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA

2007    UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine: "Mindfulness-Based Childbirth and Parenting: Awareness Training for Childbirth and Beyond", Lecture, UC San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA

2007    Mindful Birthing, Mindful Living: A 6 Day Retreat/Training for Perinatal Health Professionals.  Co-facilitator: Ferris Urbanowski, MA, Commonweal Retreat Center, Bolinas, CA

PUBLICATIONS (most recent):

Mindful Birthing: Training the Mind, Body and Heart for Childbirth and Beyond(HarperCollins/HarperOne, publication date: July 2012)

Hughes, A.M.B., Williams, J.M.G., Bardacke, N., Duncan, L.G., Dimidjian, S., & Goodman, S.H. (2009) Mindfulness approaches to childbirth and parenting. British Journal of Midwifery, 17, 630-635

Duncan, L.G., & Bardacke, N. (2010) Mindfulness-based childbirth and parenting education: Promoting family mindfulness in the perinatal period. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 19, 190-202.