Preliminary impact of an mHealth education and social support intervention on maternal health knowledge and outcomes among postpartum mothers in Punjab, India.

Autor: El Ayadi AM; University of California, San Francisco., Diamond-Smith NG; University of California, San Francisco., Duggal M; Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research., Singh P; Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi., Sharma P; Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research., Kaur J; Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi., Gopalakrishnan L; University of California, San Francisco., Gill N; Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research., Singh G; Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research., Ahuja A; Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research., Kumar V; Survival of Women and Children Foundation., Weil L; University of California, San Francisco., Bagga R; Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Research square [Res Sq] 2023 Dec 22. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Dec 22.
DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3746241/v1
Abstrakt: Background: Significant disruptions in the perinatal continuum of care occur postpartum in India, despite it being a critical time to optimize maternal health and wellbeing. Group-oriented mHealth approaches may help mitigate the impact of limited access to care and the lack of social support that characterize this period. Our team developed and pilot tested a provider-moderated group intervention to increase education, communication with providers, to refer participants to in-person care, and to connect them with a virtual social support group of other mothers with similarly aged infants through weekly calls and text chat.
Methods: We analyzed the preliminary effectiveness of the pilot intervention on maternal health knowledge through 6 months postpartum among 135 participants in Punjab, India who responded to baseline and endline surveys. We described change in knowledge of maternal danger signs, birth preparedness, postpartum care use, postpartum physical and mental health, and family planning use over time between individuals in group call (synchronous), other intervention (asynchronous), and control groups.
Results: Participant knowledge regarding danger signs was low overall regarding pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period (mean range of 1.13 to 2.05 at baseline and 0.79 to 2.10 at endline). Group call participants had a significantly higher increase over time in knowledge of danger signs than other intervention and control group participants. Birth preparedness knowledge ranged from mean 0.89-1.20 at baseline to 1.31-2.07 at baseline, with group call participants having significantly greater increases in comparison to the control group. Group call participants had nearly three-fold increased odds of postpartum health check with a clinical provider than other intervention participants (OR 2.88, 95% CI 1.07-7.74). No differences were noted in postpartum depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Conclusions: Preliminary effectiveness results are promising, yet further robust testing of the MeSSSSage intervention effectiveness is needed. Further development of strategies to support health knowledge and behaviors and overcoming barriers to postpartum care access can improve maternal health among this population.
Competing Interests: Competing interests: No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.
Databáze: MEDLINE