Abstract
BackgroundPregnancy is an ideal time to encourage healthy lifestyles as most women access health services and are more receptive to health messages; however few effective interventions exist. The aim of this research was to deliver a low-intensity, dietitian-led behavior change workshop at a Maternity Hospital to influence behaviors with demonstrated health outcomes.MethodsWorkshop effectiveness was evaluated using an RCT; ‘usual care’ women (n = 182) received a nutrition resource at their first antenatal visit and 'intervention' women also attended a one-hour ‘Healthy Start to Pregnancy’ workshop (n = 178). Dietary intake, physical activity levels, gestational weight gain knowledge, smoking cessation, and intention to breastfeed were assessed at service-entry and 12 weeks later. Intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses examined change over time between groups.ResultsApproximately half (48.3%) the intervention women attended the workshop and overall response rate at time 2 was 67.2%. Significantly more women in the intervention met pregnancy fruit guidelines at time 2 (+4.3%, p = 0.011) and had a clinically-relevant increase in physical activity (+27 minutes/week) compared with women who only received the resource (ITT). Women who attended the workshop increased their consumption of serves of fruit (+0.4 serves/day, p = 0.004), vegetables (+0.4 serves/day, p = 0.006), met fruit guidelines (+11.9%, p < 0.001), had a higher diet quality score (p = 0.027) and clinically-relevant increases in physical activity (+21.3 minutes/week) compared with those who only received the resource (PP).ConclusionsThe Healthy Start to Pregnancy workshop attendance facilitates improvements in important health behaviors. Service changes and accessibility issues are required to assist women's workshop attendance to allow more women to benefit from the workshop’s effects.Trial registrationAustralian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12611000867998
Highlights
Pregnancy is an ideal time to encourage healthy lifestyles as most women access health services and are more receptive to health messages; few effective interventions exist
Our research aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the delivery of low-intensity early antenatal health promotion program ('The Healthy Start to Pregnancy; HSP) designed in line with the 5As and behavior change principles on improving maternal health behaviors at our tertiary Maternity Hospital (MH)
This study’s aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of a low intensity, early antenatal health promotion workshop (The Healthy Start to Pregnancy; HSP) in improving lifestyle behaviors associated with demonstrated maternal and infant health outcomes
Summary
Pregnancy is an ideal time to encourage healthy lifestyles as most women access health services and are more receptive to health messages; few effective interventions exist. Pregnancy is an ideal time to implement health behavior changes. The majority of women are in contact with the health service for antenatal care [18] and are more receptive to health messages [19,20]. Current guidelines recommend that all pregnant women should receive advice about the important factors which may influence pregnancy outcomes [21]. Women may receive lifestyle information via antenatal classes. These classes are often conducted late in pregnancy and mainly focus on birth and labour, rather than facilitating healthier lifestyles
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