Exploring the Needs and Expectations of Expectant and New Parents for an mHealth Application to Support the First 1000 Days of Life: Steps toward a Co-Design Approach.

To improve maternal and child health, it is essential to adhere to health-promoting and preventive measures. However, reliable information as well as effective tools are not easy to identify in this field. Our cross-sectional study investigated the needs and expectations of expectant and new mothers and fathers as potential primary users of a hypothetical application supporting the first 1000 days of life. Between May and August 2022, we recruited expectant and new parents by administering an 83-item 5-point Likert scale questionnaire related to the content, functionalities, and technical features of the hypothetical app. We stratified responses using sociodemographic characteristics and then performed ward hierarchical clustering. The 94 women and 69 men involved in our study generally agreed with the proposed content, but expressed low interest in certain app functionalities or features, including those related to the interaction mechanism and interactivity. Women were generally more demanding than men. Our findings, resulting from the engagement of end-users, may be useful for designers and technology providers to implement mHealth solutions that, in addition to conveying reliable information, are tailored to the needs and preferences of end-users in the first 1000 days of life.

What do hospital-based health professionals need and expect from an mHealth app to support the first 1000 days of life? Results from a cross sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Several attempts have been made to introduce mHealth solutions to support maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH). However, most of the available apps do not meet the needs of end-users, underscoring the urgency of involving them in the co-design of telehealth interventions. OBJECTIVE: With this in mind, we investigated the needs and expectations of hospital-based health professionals (i.e., secondary users) providing care to pregnant women and new mothers with their babies for a hypothetical mHealth app to support the first 1000 days of life. METHODS: From November 2021 to March 2022, we surveyed health professionals using a questionnaire that explored the perceived importance of specific content, functionalities, and technical features of the proposed app. We also collected sociodemographic information from secondary users. We performed descriptive analysis and then used Ward hierarchical clustering method to classify respondents according to their response patterns. RESULTS: We recorded the needs and expectations of 145 hospital-based health professionals from obstetrics/gynecology, nursery/neonatology, and pediatrics. We found general agreement with the proposed content of the app, particularly general information about health during pregnancy (92%) and potential risky infections during pregnancy (91%). Three clusters emerged from the analysis, with the high and medium demanding clusters rating the importance of app content and technical features as very high and high, respectively, while low demanding cluster expressing more skepticism, especially about some of the proposed functionalities of the app. CONCLUSIONS: Assessing the needs and expectations of end-users is an essential process for developing tailored and effective mHealth solutions. This study has shown that hospital-based health professionals generally recognize the value of the proposed app, suggesting their propensity to integrate such a telehealth solution into mainstream clinical practice.

CARE 1000: randomized controlled trial for the evaluation of the effectiveness of a mHealth app for supporting the first 1000 days of life.

BACKGROUND: Recent developments in eHealth and mobile health (mHealth), as well as the introduction of information and communication technology innovations in clinical practice, such as telemedicine, telemonitoring, and remote examinations, are already changing the current scenario and will continue to generate innovations in the coming decades. The widespread use of mobile devices, with an estimated nearly 30 billion devices and more than 325,000 apps worldwide, will provide various opportunities for people to take control of their own health. Already in 2017, most of the apps available were focused on pregnancy support, more than any other medical field. There have been some reported experiences with social media and mHealth that could benefit the promotion of maternal physical and mental health during pregnancy. However, many apps targeting the first 1000 days of a child's life do not consider the continuity between the prenatal and postnatal periods and their joint impact on maternal and child health. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of this mHealth app to support women during the first 1000 days (from conception to 24 months of age) and to improve health prevention behaviours such as immunizations during pregnancy, weight gain during pregnancy, abstinence from smoking and alcohol consumption, and adherence to the routine childhood immunization schedule. In addition, the study aims to understand the level of appreciation of this mHealth app as a tool to overcome information and communication gaps between patients and institutions. METHODS: Conduction of a randomized controlled trial. DISCUSSION: Our results will be relevant for improving this mHealth app to promote health and prevention and to support the first 1000 days of life for both mother and child. Our results will be relevant to the future expansion of such an mHealth app to promote positive health-related outcomes in patients and co-user satisfaction and to support the organization of health services. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05500339.

Effectiveness of biological nurturing on early breastfeeding problems: a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Biological nurturing is a neurobehavioral approach to breastfeeding support that encourages women to breastfed in a relaxed, laidback position. This approach has the potential to reduce breast problems (e.g., sore nipples), making good latch easier and thus facilitating the initiation of exclusive breastfeeding. However, its effects have not been adequately investigated in a real-life situation. The aim of this randomized controlled trial was to assess the effectiveness of biological nurturing, compared to usual hospital practices, on the frequency of breast problems and on the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding at discharge from the maternity ward, after 1 week, and at one and 4 months. METHODS: Open randomized parallel controlled trial carried out in a third level maternity ward (IRCCS Burlo Garofolo, Trieste, Italy) between March and December 2018. Two-hundred eight women who planned to give birth at the hospital and who expressed the intention to breastfeed were enrolled during pregnancy and randomized to receive breastfeeding support following either the biological nurturing approach or the usual care protocol based on the WHO/UNICEF 20-h course, in use at the hospital. The primary study outcome was the incidence of breast problems during hospital stay, defined as the presence of one or more of the following outcomes, collected separately: sore nipples, cracked nipples, engorgement and mastitis. The primary analysis was performed by intention to treat. The follow up lasted 4 months. RESULTS: One hundred eighty eight out of 208 women (90.3%) were included in the analysis, 90 allocated to the biological nurturing group and 98 to the usual care group. At discharge from the maternity ward, biological nurturing significantly reduced the risk of breast problems (Relative risk [RR] 0.56, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] 0.40, 0.79), including cracked (RR 0.42, 95% CI 0.24, 0.74) and sore nipples (RR 0.59, 95% CI 0.40, 0.88). No statistically significant difference was observed for exclusive breastfeeding at discharge and up to 4 months. No adverse events occurred. CONCLUSIONS: The biological nurturing approach applied in the real-life situation of a third level hospital was effective in preventing breast problems. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT03503500. Date of First Submission: 28 March 2018.

Making the first days of life safer: preventing sudden unexpected postnatal collapse while promoting breastfeeding.

Early and prolonged skin-to-skin contact (SSC) after birth between a mother and her newborn has been shown to generate beneficial effects on the mother-infant relationship and breastfeeding. Close mother-infant body contact immediately after birth positively enhances exclusive breastfeeding during the hospital stay, with a dose-response relationship. Skin-to-skin contact may ease the infant's transition to extra-uterine life and helps regulate the infant's body temperature and nursing behavior. However, reports of sudden unexpected postnatal collapse (SUPC) soon after birth, in healthy term neonates, in association with SSC, have raised concerns about the safety of this practice. Based on available evidence, we developed a surveillance protocol in the delivery room and postnatal ward of the Institute for Maternal and Child Health of Trieste (Italy). The aim of our protocol is (a) to promote safe mother and infant bonding and (b) to establish successful breastfeeding, without increasing the risk of SUPC. As there is no known effective intervention to prevent SUPC, our protocol has been conceived as a potential best practice.