An interventional study of Good household prenatal practice and Care seeking in Short Message Service and Text Messaging, sponsored by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Completed at 1 site in China. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 45 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2016-04-07.
Sponsored by Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) · Not applicable and Interventional
It is hypothesized that delivering short messages (SMS) to pregnant women can improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. This pilot offers mothers-to-be in rural China free daily short messages (SMS) via cell phone. The aim is to advise them on (a) good household prenatal practices (GHPP) and (b) care seeking (CS) in order to improve the quality of life for mothers and newborns.
Factorial quasi-randomization is utilized to compare two groups of interventions (i.e., GHPP and CS) as well as to compare these individual interventions with a combination of the interventions. It is also possible that distinct treatments have interaction effects, and we plan to test for this. Policymakers are interested in using different strategies to enhance neonatal health. For example, the bank of SMS developed by our team is a combination of several components: reminders for regular checkups, information on GHPP, and information on CS. From a policy perspective, the evaluation of the full bank of SMS may be sufficient for the government to decide whether or not to scale up the full bank of SMS. However, to understand maternal behavior and, for policy purposes, to understand which components in the bank of SMS should be scaled up, it is important to disentangle which component contributes most to final neonatal health. Taken together, are all the components of the bank of SMS effective in changing maternal behavior and enhancing neonatal health? Which mechanisms are at play, good household prenatal care, care seeking in pregnancy, or both?
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) is the lead sponsor of 150 studies on the registry; 9 are open to participants now.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
There were two inclusion criteria: Local pregnant women must 1) own a cell phone in the household, and 2) visit a MCHC for antenatal care during pregnancy.
The GHPP arm receives SMS messages regarding knowledge on nutrition, labor, non-medical pain management, breastfeeding, and depression. This arm also receives messages delivered to the control group.
Behavioral: Good household prenatal practice
The CS arm receives SMS messages which include danger-sign recognition and reminders for government-subsidized projects. This arm also receives messages delivered to the control group.
Behavioral: Care seeking
This arm receives the SMS messages delivered to the GHPP, CS and control group.
Behavioral: Full bank of SMS
Control group receives SMS messages regarding: * Reminders of prenatal visits and certified skilled attendance of labor (status quo); * Fetal development in different gestational stages. The three experimental groups receive the control messages as well.
Knowledge on nutrition, labor, non-medical pain management, breastfeeding and depression
* Danger-sign recognition * Reminders for government projects
* Danger-sign recognition * Reminders for government projects * Knowledge on nutrition, labor, non-medical pain management, breastfeeding and depression
Newborn health
Newborn health is measured by appropriateness of weight for gestational age.
Time frame: the first month after birth
Neonatal Adverse Outcome Indicator (NAOI)
The NAOI focuses on measuring severe neonatal morbidity.
Time frame: the first month after birth
Actual number of prenatal visits over expected visits
Time frame: In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months
Uptake of government-subsidized programs
This outcome is measured by the following metrics: 1. Duration of folic acid 2. Uptake of infant vaccinations
Time frame: In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months, and 1 month after birth
C-section rate
Time frame: child birth
Maternal health
Maternal health is measured by change of perception in general health and postpartum depression.
Time frame: Child birth and 1 year after birth
Near-miss
The near-miss focuses on measuring severe maternal morbidity.
Time frame: In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months, and childbirth
Psychological outcomes
Attitudes, personal norms, self-efficacy, social desirability, intentions, plans, susceptibility, expectations, and severity
Time frame: In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months
This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2016. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)