Impact of remote prenatal education on program participation and breastfeeding of women in rural and remote Indigenous communities

Abstract

Background: First Nations (FN) women have a higher risk of diabetes than non-FN women in Canada. Prenatal education and breastfeeding may reduce the risk of diabetes in mothers and offspring. The rates of breastfeeding initiation and participation in the prenatal program are low in FN communities. Methods: A prenatal educational website, social media-assisted prenatal chat groups and community support teams were developed in three rural or remote FN communities in Manitoba. The rates of participation of pregnant women in prenatal programs and breastfeeding initiation were compared before and after the start of the remote prenatal education program within 2014-2017. Findings: The participation rate of FN pregnant women in rural or remote communities in the prenatal program and breastfeeding initiation during 1-year after the start of the community-based remote prenatal education program were significantly increased compared to that during 1-year before the start of the program (54% versus 36% for the participation rate, 50% versus 34% for breastfeeding initiation, p < 0¢001). Availability of high-speed Wi-Fi and/or postpartum supporting team were associated with favorite study outcomes. Positive feedback on the remote prenatal education was received from participants. Interpretation: The findings suggest that remote prenatal education is feasible and effective for improving the breastfeeding rate and engaging pregnant women to participate in the prenatal program in rural or remote FN communities. The remote prenatal education remained active during COVID-19 in the participating communities, which suggests an advantage to expand remote prenatal education in other Indigenous communities.

role of midwives in the application of classroom services for pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic period

“…Midwifery care for a woman during the phase (pregnant, childbirth, and postnatal) greatly determines the quality of women's health (Hui et al, 2021). Distance prenatal education program is helpful for prenatal programs during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

“…Information technology is a facility and infrastructure (hardware, software, user) system and methods to obtain, transmit, process, interpret, store, organize, and use data meaningfully. Information technology is the result of human engineering in delivering information from sender to recipient so that the transmission of information will be faster and longer (Hui et al, 2021).…”

“…According to researchers Hui et al (2021), nowadays, information technology is the easiest to get information quickly. Pregnant women can access information more accessible to find out how pregnant women should do during their pregnancy examination.…”

“…The use of technology helps communicate using gadgets or cell phones to call health workers to get information related to ANC visit schedules. The use of technology can also be accessed through the internet to find out about the health of pregnancy (Hui et al, 2021).…”

To the Editors of the Journal of Fertility, Gynecology, and Andrology

“…The results showed that remote prenatal education is effective for increasing breastfeeding rates and participation in prenatal programs in remote and rural areas. The remote education remained active during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that remote educational programs can be expanded to similar locations (18). Web-based prenatal and antenatal education classes are an appropriate response to the need to offer support to pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic (19).…”