The Journal of Maternal-Fetal & Neonatal Medicine

Integrative Medicine in Obstetrics: Evidence-Informed, Whole-Person Care Across Pregnancy and Postpartum

Integrative health in obstetrics brings evidence-based complementary approaches together with conventional prenatal and postpartum care in a coordinated, patient-centered way. Pregnant and postpartum patients commonly seek mind–body strategies (e.g., mindfulness, yoga, guided imagery), physical approaches (e.g., perinatal rehabilitation and pelvic floor therapy, selected manual therapies), and nutritional approaches (e.g., prenatal micronutrients and botanicals). When clinicians do not address these choices proactively, patients may self-treat, experience fragmented care, or be exposed to ineffective or unsafe products. This Article Collection will advance the field by defining what “evidence-informed integrative obstetric care” looks like in routine practice and in high-risk settings, with clear attention to safety, shared decision-making, and interdisciplinary coordination.

The Collection is timely because pregnancy is a period of rapid physiologic change and heightened clinical vulnerability. Perinatal mental health disorders, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, metabolic dysfunction (including obesity and gestational diabetes), and pregnancy-related musculoskeletal and pelvic floor morbidity are common and can influence maternal wellbeing as well as obstetric and neonatal outcomes. At the same time, supplement and complementary practice use is widespread, but evidence quality varies substantially across interventions. Clinicians therefore need pragmatic, clinically grounded syntheses that (1) distinguish supportive evidence from uncertainty, (2) outline contraindications and drug–supplement interactions, and (3) translate multimodal care into feasible pathways for obstetric teams.

We welcome original research, systematic reviews, narrative reviews, and clinically focused perspectives that strengthen the evidence base, improve implementation, and standardize terminology for integrative obstetrics. Priority subtopics include: integrative reproductive psychiatry across the reproductive life course; trauma-informed integrative care in OB/GYN; evidence-based pregnancy supplements; lifestyle medicine for metabolic health in pregnancy and postpartum; lifestyle, sleep and stress approaches for hypertensive disorders; integrative pregnancy/postpartum rehabilitation (pelvic girdle pain, low back pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, return-to-function pathways); and art-based interventions for pregnancy, postpartum, and reproductive loss. Manuscripts should explicitly address benefits, harms, and strength of evidence, and should be relevant to maternal-fetal and perinatal care.

All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts. 

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript. 

The deadline for submitting manuscripts is January 15th, 2027.

Please contact Menghan Li at [email protected]  with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

Please be sure to select the appropriate Article Collection from the drop-down menu in the submission system.