Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Sep 26, 2017
Open Peer Review Period: Sep 28, 2017 - Oct 12, 2017
Date Accepted: Nov 12, 2017
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
The Effectiveness and Cost-Effectiveness of Web-Based and Home-Based Postnatal Psychoeducational Interventions for First-Time Mothers: Randomized Controlled Trial Protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
In addition to recuperating from the physical and emotional demands of childbirth, first-time mothers are met with demands of adapting to their social roles while picking up new skills to take care of their newborn. Mothers may not feel adequately prepared for parenthood if they are situated in an unsupported environment. Postnatal psychoeducational interventions have been shown to be useful and can offer a cost-effective solution for improving maternal outcomes.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to examine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Web-based and home-based postnatal psychoeducational programs for first-time mothers on maternal outcomes.
Methods:
A randomized controlled three-group pre- and posttests experimental design is proposed. This study plans to recruit 204 first-time mothers on their day of discharge from a public tertiary hospital in Singapore. Eligible first-time mothers will be randomly allocated to either a Web-based psychoeducation group, a home-based psychoeducation group, or a control group receiving standard care. The outcomes include maternal parental self-efficacy, social support, psychological well-being (anxiety and postnatal depression), and cost evaluation. Data will be collected at baseline, 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months post-delivery.
Results:
The recruitment (n=204) commenced in October 2016 and was completed in February 2017, with 68 mothers in each group. The 6-month follow-up data collection was completed in August 2017.
Conclusions:
This study may identify an effective and cost-effective Web-based postnatal psychoeducational program to improve first-time mothers’ health outcomes. The provision of a widely-accessed Web-based postnatal psychoeducational program will eventually lead to more positive postnatal experiences for first-time mothers and positively influence their future birth plans. Trial Registration: International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN): 45202278; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN45202278 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6whx0pQ2F).
Citation
Per the author's request the PDF is not available.
Copyright
© The authors. All rights reserved. This is a privileged document currently under peer-review/community review (or an accepted/rejected manuscript). Authors have provided JMIR Publications with an exclusive license to publish this preprint on it's website for review and ahead-of-print citation purposes only. While the final peer-reviewed paper may be licensed under a cc-by license on publication, at this stage authors and publisher expressively prohibit redistribution of this draft paper other than for review purposes.