Essential Coaching Postpartum: Evaluating a Parent-focused Postpartum Text Message Program in Nova Scotia
For patients and families
In plain language
An automatic summary of structured registry data. It is an orientation aid, not a substitute for the official protocol or a physician assessment.
- What is being studied
- The protocol lists: Essential Coaching Postpartum.
- Who it may be relevant to
- Registry conditions: Parenting Self-efficacy, Postpartum Anxiety, Postpartum Depression (PPD), Postpartum Stress. Basic parameters: from 18 years · All.
- What needs checking
- Age, condition and sex are only basic indicators. Prior treatment, laboratory values and other mandatory requirements appear in the eligibility criteria below.
- Where it takes place
- Canada
- Next step
- Save the trial, show it to the treating physician, and confirm current recruitment with the study center. Costs, documents and travel →
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Overview
The transition to parenthood is often an exciting yet hard period for parents. In the first year after a new baby, many parents feel less confident, have more anxiety and depression, and feel more isolated and alone. During this time, many parents use their phones and the Internet to seek out information and support. Thus, the investigators are exploring the opportunity of using mHealth, or mobile health, to provide information directly to parents after the birth of their first baby. The investigators have developed a program for both birthing and non-birthing parents called the Essential Coaching Postpartum program. This program provides 332 parents with text messages sent for 6 weeks after birth to share information on newborn care and parent outcomes. This will be tailored based on whether they are the birthing parent (Essential Coaching for Every Mother) or non-birthing parent (Essential Coaching for Every Partner). The investigators will evaluate this program by comparing a group of parents who receive the messages to a group of parents do not receive any text messages. To determine the success of the Essential Coaching Postpartum program, the investigators will compare parents' confidence, anxiety, depression, and co-parenting between the two groups after six-weeks and six-months. The investigators believe that parents who get the text messages will have higher confidence and co-parenting outcomes and lower anxiety and depression. The investigator's goal with the Essential Coaching Postpartum program is to help make the first few weeks after a new baby less stressful by providing information and support directly to parents that they know they can trust.
Interventions
- Behavioral Essential Coaching Postpartum
Essential Coaching Postpartum consists of one-way, standardized text messages sent to parents from birth to 6-weeks postpartum to provide evidence-based information on newborn care and mental health. Messages are sent twice a day for the first three weeks (10am and 5pm) and then once a day for the following three weeks (10am), starting the second day after birth.
Primary outcome measures
- Parenting self-efficacy [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
Secondary outcome measures (7)
- Postnatal Anxiety [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
- Postpartum depression [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
- Postnatal Childcare Stress [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
- General distress [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
- Sleep [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
- Relationship Satisfaction [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
- Co-Parenting [Time frame: Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum]
Eligibility criteria
Inclusion criteria
Eligible birthing parents will
- early postpartum (<7 days) with their first child
- understand English
- have a cell phone with text and data
- be 18 years of age or old
- live in Nova Scotia.
Eligible non-birthing parents will:
- be early postpartum (<7 days) with their first child
- understand English
- have a cell phone with text and data
- be 18 years of age or old
- live in Nova Scotia.
Exclusion criteria
Participants (both birthing and non-birthing parents) will be excluded if:
- newborn die or are expected to die prior to leaving the hospital
- they have no access to mobile phone, either personal or shared
- unwilling to receive SMS messages
- decline or withdraw to participate
- participated in a previous iteration of this project (e.g., either the development or evaluation).
Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.
Healthy volunteers: Yes
Study design
- Allocation
- Randomized
- Model
- Parallel assignment
- Masking
- Single blind
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
Study locations
Canada · 1 center
- IWK Health — Halifax
Publications
- Dol J, Chambers CT, Parker JA, Brooks M, Dennis CL, Seguin D, Goldberg JM, Hughes B, Reese T, Richard G, Calnan K. Effectiveness of the Essential Coaching Postpartum Digital Health Solution on Parenting Self-Efficacy, Mental Health, Well-Being, and Parenting Outcomes: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Oct 17;14:e78209. doi: 10.2196/78209. PMID 41105940
Identifiers
NCT: NCT06996067 · 1031429