Abstract
BackgroundIn Japan, 85% of pregnant women do not practice antenatal perineal massage. Therefore, we developed a smartphone website to support the practice of antenatal perineal massage. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the feasibility of our smartphone website.MethodsPregnant women were recruited at five hospitals or clinics in Tokyo, Japan. Participants assigned to the smartphone website group (n = 74) were asked to register on the smartphone website. After completing registration, they could login and use all the contents of the website. After giving birth, participants completed a 5-item questionnaire evaluating the acceptability of the smartphone website. Participants assigned to the leaflet group (n = 71) received a leaflet on antenatal perineal massage and completed a similar 4-item questionnaire evaluating the leaflet. Data were collected from April 2014 to November 2014. Data analysis was performed using chi-square and t-tests to analyze responses to close-ended questions, and content analysis was conducted to analyze responses of open-ended questions.ResultsIn the smartphone website group, 9 women (12.2%) did not register on the smartphone website. Approximately 80% of the women who responded indicated that the smartphone site was easy to understand and useful for practicing antenatal perineal massage. In the smartphone website group, the reply rate for reporting the frequency of massage was 43.6%. Although the ratings and frequency at which the material was accessed tended to be higher in the smartphone website group than in the leaflet group, there were no significant differences.ConclusionsMost pregnant women in the smartphone website group provided a favorable evaluation for the smartphone website. However, some participants had suggestions for improvement, which need to be incorporated in a revised version of the website. Therefore, the present study’s results demonstrate the feasibility of a smartphone website to support the practice of antenatal perineal massage, and they may aid in the development of similar web-based educational material for pregnant women.Trial registrationThis trial was registered with the UMIN Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000013979) on May 16, 2014.
Highlights
In Japan, 85% of pregnant women do not practice antenatal perineal massage
Website contents were easy to understand (85.7%), the illustrations and pictures were easy to understand (85.7%), their expectations were met (78.6%), the website was useful for practicing perineal massage (82.2%), and they were satisfied with the contents (75.0%)
Some participants in the smartphone website group commented that they were able to perform the massage because of the information provided on the smartphone website, they had been unaware of antenatal perineal massage until they participated in the study
Summary
In Japan, 85% of pregnant women do not practice antenatal perineal massage. We developed a smartphone website to support the practice of antenatal perineal massage. Perineal trauma is common following vaginal delivery and includes perineal lacerations and episiotomy. Selective episiotomy is associated with less severe perineal or vaginal trauma and fewer healing complications compared to that for routine use [1]. Methods to reduce the incidence of perineal trauma, including episiotomy, are needed. Antenatal perineal massage is one method that appears to reduce the incidence of perineal trauma following childbirth. A recent systematic review reported that antenatal perineal massage in primiparous women was associated with a significantly reduced incidence of trauma requiring suturing and episiotomy [6]. 85% of Japanese pregnant women do not practice antenatal perineal massage [7]; it is inferred that many pregnant women do not receive education regarding this type of massage from their midwives
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