Pregnancy and birth planning during COVID-19: The effects of tele-education offered to pregnant women on prenatal distress and pregnancy-related anxiety.
Yeşim Aksoy Derya, Sümeyye Altiparmak, Emine AkÇa and 2 others
PMID 33157497WHAT IT FOUND
Pregnant women receiving a phone, text, booklet and consultancy programme had lower distress and anxiety scores than controls.
It covered COVID precautions, birth, breastfeeding and stress coping. Effects were short-term and self-reported.
Key findings
01Pregnant women who received the phone, text, booklet and consultancy programme had lower posttest prenatal distress scores than controls (8.75±5.10 vs 11.50±4.91; higher means more distress).
02The programme group also had lower total pregnancy-related anxiety scores than controls (24.25±4.90 vs 30.04±8.48; higher means more anxiety).
03Fear of giving birth and worries about a physically or mentally handicapped child were lower in the programme group, while concerns about appearance did not differ (9.66±3.52 vs 12.33±4.40; 7.02±2.70 vs 10.29±4.44; 7.56±1.80 vs 7.41±2.14).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The follow-up was only one week, so long-term distress, anxiety or birth outcomes were not measured. The participants were pregnant women in their last trimester who had internet access and reported no psychiatric issues or COVID-19 diagnosis, so the results may not apply to women earlier in pregnancy, without internet, with mental health conditions, or with confirmed or suspected infection. The study was done in one public hospital in eastern Turkey during the early pandemic, so it may not generalise to other settings or pandemic phases. The programme combined voice calls, text messages, a booklet and consultancy, so the effect of any single part cannot be separated. Outcomes were self-reported questionnaire scores, not clinician-rated distress, mental health diagnoses or delivery outcomes. The control group received no active education and had less contact than the intervention group, so attention and reassurance may have contributed.
Declared interests
The authors reported no funding or other conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude phone calls alone caused the change. The programme combined voice calls, daily text messages, a digital booklet and researcher consultancy, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.