Assessing the influence of forest therapy on maternal health: a medical perspective and recommendations

Abstract

Background: The health promoting benefits of greenness exposure were addressed before, during, and after pregnancy. Addressing the low-birth-rate issue of Korea, this review focuses on forest-based interventions to assess the mental and physical health of pregnant women in green environments, both nationally and internationally. It also proposes the utilization of green environmental resources as a strategy to improve maternal health and address the low-birth-rate issue.Current Concepts: Keyword search was done using PubMed, Web of Science, and Research Information Sharing Service (RISS) databases manually for references of retrieved papers until September 2023. Keywords included forest, greenness, and antenatal education. Of 107 potentially relevant papers related to prenatal education in forest or green environments, 12 papers were finally analyzed (comprising six domestic and 6 international academic journals). Overall, these papers showed at least moderate levels of bias. This review explored the influence of green spaces, forest activities, and psychological wellbeing on pregnant women. When analyzing pregnancy outcomes about green environments, differences between domestic and international studies became evident due to age, location, sample size, study design, and female participation rates.Discussion and Conclusion: The primary assessment tools focused on mental health, stress levels, quality of life, and overall psychological wellbeing. Domestic studies emphasized stress, anxiety, life satisfaction, inner peace, and maternal identity during pregnancy, while international research underscored the positive impact of green environments on pregnancy outcomes.