Supporting At-Risk Mothers Across Perinatal Period

Not Applicable

Recruiting

• Conditions: Self Efficacy; Parents; Perinatal Depression; Stress; Anxiety; Infant Development

• Registration Number: NCT06363019
• Lead Sponsor: National University of Singapore

Brief Summary

The SMART app is a mobile application based psychosocial parenting intervention containing educational materials (articles, videos, audios, podcasts) on parenting, an integrated peer support chat function with experienced mothers and an integrated forum for interaction with other mother participants.

The goal of this interventional study is to test the effectiveness of a mobile-app health based intervention, SMART, mothers in the perinatal period.

The main questions this study aims to answer are:

1. What is the effect of a mobile-based health intervention, SMART, on maternal outcomes?

2. What is the effect of a mobile-based health intervention, SMART, on infant outcomes?

3. What is the cost-effectiveness of using SMART as compared to standard routine care?

Researchers will compare results with a control group that will undergo standard routine care.

Detailed Description

This project aims to develop and evaluate a mobile-health application based Supporting at-risk Mothers across perinatal period: A Randomized controlled Trial (SMART) intervention on maternal outcomes such as maternal depression, anxiety and stress, parenting self-efficacy, help-seeking behaviour and attachment and interaction levels , newborn outcomes such as physical, social and emotional development as well as the cost-effectiveness of the intervention.

When compared with those in the control group receiving standard care:

1. mothers receiving SMART intervention will have better: i) emotional well-being (reduced depression, stress, and anxiety); ii) parenting self-efficacy; iii) social support; and iv) attachment, interactions with their newborns and parenting satisfaction.

2. newborns of mothers receiving SMART will have better: i) physical development; ii) social development; and iii) emotional development.

3. It will be more cost-effective to provide SMART than the standard care.

A randomized controlled, two-group pre-test and repeated post-tests, experimental design will be used. Mothers will be randomly assigned to the intervention group, where they will receive the SMART intervention (Access to the mobile App from pregnancy till 6 months postpartum) which includes knowledge-based content with audio and video materials, a peer discussion forum with other mothers, online chat groups with peer volunteer who are experienced mothers plus the standard care. Peer volunteers will be recruited and their role is to provide support to the mother via a weekly chat with the mothers through the SMART application. The control group will receive the standard care provided by the hospitals and polyclinics. The effectiveness of SMART intervention will be measured based on the improvement of maternal depression (primary outcome), stress and anxiety, parenting self-efficacy in newborn care, social support received by mothers, mother-infant attachment, and interactions as well as newborn outcomes including physical, behavioral (social) and emotional development.

Newborn data such as baby gender, order of birth, baby weight and developmental milestones will be collected to examine their development.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2024-02-26
• Study First Submitted: 2024-03-09
• Status Verified: 2024-04
• Study First Submitted QC: 2024-04-09
• Last Update Submitted: 2024-04-09
• Study First Posted: 2024-04-12
• Last Update Posted: 2024-04-12
• Primary Completion: 2025-02-26
• Study Completion: 2026-07-06

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: RECRUITING
• Sex: Female
• Target Recruitment: 200

Inclusion Criteria

• mothers who (1) are 21 years old to 65 years old; (2) can read and speak English; (3) belong to a vulnerable population due to one or more of the following criteria: i) monthly household income is =/less than SGD 2500 and/or under any low-income support services (referral from social workers) ii) have positive maternal Adverse Childhood Events (ACES) evaluation; iii) single mother; iv) clinically referred by medical professionals or other allied workers for requiring psychosocial support; v) pregnancy or birth of baby diagnosed with congenital malformation/abnormality where baby is 1 year old or less and can be discharged home with mother; vi) mothers with Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scores (EPDS) =9 (at-risk for depression); and (4) have a smartphone with internet access.

Exclusion Criteria

• mothers who (1) have chronic physical or mental disorders which would interfere with their ability to participate in the study, and/or (2) gave birth to a baby who needs prolonged hospitalization or NICU support and /or stillborn (3) has a cognitive impairment

Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Postnatal depression	Baseline and 6 month, 9month, 12month post childbirth	Measured via the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, a 10-item self-reported questionnaire based on a 4-point Likert scale

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Infant physical development	1 month and 6 month at immediate post intervention	Measured via the Bayley Scale-4th edition
Infant cognitive development	1 month and 6 month at immediate post intervention	Measured via the Bayley Scale-4th edition
Perceived stress	Baseline and 6 month, 9month, 12month post childbirth	Measured via the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10), a 10-item self-reported questionnaire on a 5 point Likert scale
Parental satisfaction	Baseline and 6 month, 9month, 12month post childbirth	Measured via the What Being the Parent of A Baby is Like (WPL), an 11-item self-reported questionnaire on a 9-point Likert scale
Parental efficacy	Baseline and 6 month, 9month, 12month post childbirth	Measured via a 10-item questionnaire on a 4-point Likert scale
Objective stress	1 month and 6 month at immediate post intervention	Measured via salivary cortisol biomarkers obtained through saliva samples
Infant Emotional Development	12 month post childbirth	Measured by the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (B-ITSEA)
Infant emotional development	1 month and 6 month at immediate post intervention	Measured via the Bayley Scale-4th edition
Anxiety	Baseline and 6 month, 9month, 12month post childbirth	Measured via the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), a 40-item self-reported questionnaire based on a 4-point Likert scale
Perceived social support	Baseline and 6 month, 9month, 12month post childbirth	Measured via the Perceived Social Support for Parenting (PSSP), a 10-item questionnaire on a 5-point Liker scale
Maternal-infant bonding	1 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month post childbirth	Measured via the Maternal-Infant Bonding Scale (MIBS), an 8-item self-reported questionnaire on a 4-point Likert scale
Infant Physical Development	1 month, 6 month, 9 month and 12 month post childbirth	Measured by the Ages and Stages Questionnaire-3
Emotional availability	1 month and 6 month at immediate post intervention	Measured through the Emotional Availability Scale (EAS), a 5-dimension framework assessing both the parent and the infant via an observer.
Health services and utilization	Baseline, 1 month, 6 month and 12month post childbirth	Measured on the Questionnaire on health services and utilization (QHSU)
Infant Social Development	1 month and 6 month at immediate post intervention	Measured by the Bayley Scale-4th edition

Trial Locations

Locations (2)

Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore; 🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore

National University of Singapore; 🇸🇬 Singapore, Singapore