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CompletedNCT04135612Updated Feb 17, 2021

The Impact of a Daily Smartphone-based Communication Among Postpartum Women on Breastfeeding Rates

An interventional study of Smartphone based communication in Breast Feeding, Exclusive and Post Partum Depression, sponsored by Wolfson Medical Center. Completed at 2 sites in Israel. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 50 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-02-17.

Sponsored by Wolfson Medical Center · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
224
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 50 Years
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

We will aim to study the impact of introducing a smartphone-based daily feedback and communication platform between postpartum women delivering at our institute and a multidisciplinary breastfeeding-support team (obstetricians, neonatologists, midwives, lactation consultants, nurses, and psychologist) on breastfeeding rates.

Read the detailed description

Our study will aim to introduce a smartphone-based daily feedback and communication platform between postpartum women delivering at our institute and a multidisciplinary breastfeeding-support team. This team will include: an obstetrician specialized in maternal-fetal medicine, a general obstetrician, two certified midwives, two certified lactation-consultants, a neonatologist, and a psychologist. Our vision and hypothesis for the current study- is that an intimate personalized daily communication and feedback platform between each woman and the support team will improve the rates of initiation of lactation and of full/partial lactation at various time points postpartum.

Geographic area - A university affiliated hospital in southern Tel-Aviv that serves a population of over 500,000 people. Our annual delivery volume is 5000 deliveries with a 22% CS rate. The population is heterogeneous and consists of a high rate of women with intermediate-low income as well as a population of refugees from Africa (mostly Eritrea), both populations still have a very high rate of smartphone owners based on our previous experience.

Methods- Prospective, single-center randomized controlled trial. Eligibility will be limited to women expressing wish to breastfeed, with singleton gestations, delivering > 37 weeks with no other maternal/neonatal significant morbidities.

Study design and group assignment -Women meeting inclusion criteria who own a smartphone will be approached for recruitment on postpartum day 1. After obtaining a written informed consent, patients will be randomly assigned either to the intervention group (smartphone group) or to the control group in a 1:1 ratio. A blocked randomization scheme will be created using a computer-generated list of random numbers.

The routine prenatal care provided by our institute includes lactation consulting during the 48-72 hour postpartum hospitalization. Patients allocated to the control group will receive the aforementioned care. Patients assigned to the smartphone group will receive our standard care, and in addition will have an application installed to their smartphones. This application will be in Hebrew language, simple to use, and specifically designed to the needs of the current study.

All patients will receive a demonstration regarding the use of the application from one of our research coordinators, in addition to a detailed information brochure.

the patient will receive via email an individualized feedback from our team regarding her lactation. This feedback could include: reassurance and positive feedback and lactation tips in attempt to optimize specific obstacles. In addition, patients will be encouraged to use the platform to ask questions and receive immediate answers regarding any aspect lactation.

Primary outcome- Lactation at 3 months postpartum Secondary outcomes Full/partial lactation at 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months, and 6 months and a variety of outcomes regarding neonatal health, maternal health, emotional status and satisfaction.

02

Conditions studied

  • Breast Feeding, Exclusive
  • Post Partum Depression
03

In context

Depression, Postpartum

528 studies on the registry are indexed under Depression, Postpartum; 124 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 224 is above the median of 105 across 425 interventional studies indexed under Depression, Postpartum.

Browse Depression, Postpartum studies →

Lead sponsor

Wolfson Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 113 studies on the registry; 16 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 50 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

  • women expressing wish to breastfeed, with singleton gestations, delivering > 37 weeks with no other maternal/neonatal significant morbidities.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • refusal to participate
  • no smartphone availability
05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
224 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Smartphone group

    application installed to their smartphones. This application will be in Hebrew language, simple to use, and specifically designed to the needs of the current study. Each patient will document each evening her lactation performance during the day, and the App will generate a daily report transmitted by email every evening to our computerized research database. Every evening the patient will receive via email an individualized feedback from our team regarding her lactation. This feedback could include: reassurance and positive feedback and lactation tips in attempt to optimize specific obstacles. In addition, patients will be encouraged to use the platform to ask questions and receive immediate answers regarding any aspect lactation. As per the study protocol, medical treatment will only be initiated in a formal clinic appointment and not via the application.

    Other: Smartphone based communication

  • No intervention
    Control group

    The routine prenatal care provided by our institute includes lactation consulting during the 48-72 hour postpartum hospitalization.

Interventions

  • OtherSmartphone based communication

    Each patient will document each evening her lactation performance during the day, and the App will generate a daily report transmitted by email every evening to our computerized research database. Every evening the patient will receive via email an individualized feedback from our team regarding her lactation. This feedback could include: reassurance and positive feedback and lactation tips in attempt to optimize specific obstacles.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. breastfeeding rates

    Full or partial breastfeeding at fixed intervals.

    Time frame: 3 months

07

Study locations

2 sites
  • Wolfson medical center
    Holon, Israel
  • Wolfson medical center
    H̱olon, Israel
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Miremberg H, Yirmiya K, Rona S, Gonen N, Marom O, Pohol A, Kovo M, Bar J, Weiner E. Smartphone-based counseling and support platform and the effect on postpartum lactation: a randomized controlled trial. Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2022 Mar;4(2):100543. doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100543. Epub 2021 Dec 4. PubMed 34871782 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 17, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04135612
Lead sponsor
Wolfson Medical Center
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Oct 22, 2019
Start date
Oct 30, 2019
Primary completion
Sep 1, 2020
Completion
Sep 1, 2020
Last update
Feb 17, 2021

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Feb 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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