Effects of a nurse-led navigation program for first-time pregnant Korean women on maternal anxiety and childbirth confidence: a quasi-experimental study.

The groups were not randomised; the control group was recruited first and the navigation group later, so selection bias cannot be excluded. Baseline childbirth confidence differed significantly between groups, which makes the confidence finding harder to interpret. The study was done at one hospital in first-time pregnant women at 35 weeks of gestation or later who expected vaginal delivery, so it may not apply to other settings, earlier or later gestation, or planned caesarean birth. The navigation program combined tailored education, delivery room experience, emotional support, community resource linkage, postpartum and breastfeeding education, and optional spouse video, so the effect of any single component cannot be separated. Women with anxiety disorder or anti-anxiety medication, high likelihood of caesarean section, or participation in another prenatal education program were excluded. The paper does not describe randomisation or blinding of outcome assessment, and data were collected by research assistants.

The authors declared no conflict of interest and reported no funding.

Do not conclude that nurse-led navigation alone caused the improvements. The intervention bundled tailored education, delivery room experience, emotional support, community resource linkage, and optional spouse video, and the groups were not randomised, with baseline childbirth confidence already different.