What New Mothers Need to Know: Perspectives from Women and Providers in Georgia

Abstract

Identifying the educational and resource needs of new mothers is of paramount importance in developing programs to improve maternal and child health outcomes. The primary purpose of this study was to explore the educational needs of new mothers and identify opportunities to enhance healthcare providers' current educational efforts. A two-part methodology was utilized to qualitatively explore the topic of parenting information needs for new mothers in Georgia. Data collection included information from 11 focus groups with 92 first-time, new mothers and 20 interviews with healthcare providers who serve new mothers. Discussions with both new mothers and providers clearly indicated that new mothers face a significant informational deficit, especially regarding very basic, daily infant care information and health literacy challenges. Educational materials already exist; however, mothers report difficulty accessing and understanding this information. For this reason, both the mothers and the providers stressed a focus on developing programs or interventions that allow in-person education and/or alternative modalities to access information, as opposed to development of new written materials solely. Information from the focus group and interviews provided important insight regarding what improvements need to be made to help new mothers and their families during the early stages of parenthood. By improving the education of new mothers and their families, it is proposed that maternal and infant health status could be improved.

Health Information Needs and Seeking Behaviors among Korean Mothers of Young Children in the United States

“…A very recent focus group study among new mothers by Gazmararian et al (2014) explicitly indicated that new mothers encounter a significant informational deficiency, especially on very basic, daily infant care information.…”

Associations of Breastfeeding Knowledge, Attitude and Interest with Breastfeeding Duration: A Cross-sectional Web-based Study

“…A recent US study reported that mothers had difficulty accessing and understanding maternal and infant health information although educational materials already exist [14]. The internet may be and will be, more critically, an important resource to provide parents and health professionals with essential information including breastfeeding techniques, benefits of breastfeeding and self or peer-care tools such as selfmonitoring modules and peer supporting network programs [15].…”

Discussion of Extinction-Based Behavioral Sleep Interventions for Young Children and Reasons Why Parents May Find Them Difficult

“…Present educational parenting materials may be at levels inappropriate to meet the needs of families. 67 As researchers and practitioners, we must also think critically about providing information that perpetuates misinformation. Underlying extinction interventions is the premise that bedtime noncompliance has been trained by the behaviors of the parents.…”

“…32 Little evidence exists relating to sleep intervention uptake and culture; however, there are examples of how other parenting practices are influenced by culture. For example, breastfeeding, co-sleeping and transitioning to solid foods are deeply embedded within cultural practices 67 and may oppose the general narrative in the wider community. In some cultures, leaving a child to sleep alone is considered "bad parenting," 78 which has significant implications for treatment, especially in relation to extinction interventions.…”

“…A lack of culturally sensitive models of intervention may mean current efforts are not resonating with their intended audiences. 67 Further research is needed to understand cross-cultural sleep contexts and develop culturally-sensitive interventions.…”