The Impact of Prenatal Short Messages (SMS) on Maternal and Newborn Health
- Conditions
- Text MessagingShort Message Service
- Interventions
- Behavioral: Good household prenatal practiceBehavioral: Full bank of SMSBehavioral: Care seeking
- Registration Number
- NCT02037087
- Lead Sponsor
- Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)
- Brief Summary
It is hypothesized that delivering short messages (SMS) to pregnant women can improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. This pilot offers mothers-to-be in rural China free daily short messages (SMS) via cell phone. The aim is to advise them on (a) good household prenatal practices (GHPP) and (b) care seeking (CS) in order to improve the quality of life for mothers and newborns.
- Detailed Description
Factorial quasi-randomization is utilized to compare two groups of interventions (i.e., GHPP and CS) as well as to compare these individual interventions with a combination of the interventions. It is also possible that distinct treatments have interaction effects, and we plan to test for this. Policymakers are interested in using different strategies to enhance neonatal health. For example, the bank of SMS developed by our team is a combination of several components: reminders for regular checkups, information on GHPP, and information on CS. From a policy perspective, the evaluation of the full bank of SMS may be sufficient for the government to decide whether or not to scale up the full bank of SMS. However, to understand maternal behavior and, for policy purposes, to understand which components in the bank of SMS should be scaled up, it is important to disentangle which component contributes most to final neonatal health. Taken together, are all the components of the bank of SMS effective in changing maternal behavior and enhancing neonatal health? Which mechanisms are at play, good household prenatal care, care seeking in pregnancy, or both?
Recruitment & Eligibility
- Status
- COMPLETED
- Sex
- Female
- Target Recruitment
- 4467
Not provided
Not provided
Study & Design
- Study Type
- INTERVENTIONAL
- Study Design
- FACTORIAL
- Arm && Interventions
Group Intervention Description Good household prenatal practice (GHPP) Good household prenatal practice The GHPP arm receives SMS messages regarding knowledge on nutrition, labor, non-medical pain management, breastfeeding, and depression. This arm also receives messages delivered to the control group. Full bank of SMS Full bank of SMS This arm receives the SMS messages delivered to the GHPP, CS and control group. Care seeking (CS) Care seeking The CS arm receives SMS messages which include danger-sign recognition and reminders for government-subsidized projects. This arm also receives messages delivered to the control group.
- Primary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method Newborn health the first month after birth Newborn health is measured by appropriateness of weight for gestational age.
- Secondary Outcome Measures
Name Time Method C-section rate child birth Neonatal Adverse Outcome Indicator (NAOI) the first month after birth The NAOI focuses on measuring severe neonatal morbidity.
Actual number of prenatal visits over expected visits In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months Uptake of government-subsidized programs In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months, and 1 month after birth This outcome is measured by the following metrics:
1. Duration of folic acid
2. Uptake of infant vaccinationsMaternal health Child birth and 1 year after birth Maternal health is measured by change of perception in general health and postpartum depression.
Near-miss In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months, and childbirth The near-miss focuses on measuring severe maternal morbidity.
Psychological outcomes In the duration of pregnancy, an expected average of 9 months Attitudes, personal norms, self-efficacy, social desirability, intentions, plans, susceptibility, expectations, and severity
Trial Locations
- Locations (1)
Xi'an Jiaotong University
🇨🇳Xi'an, Shaanxi, China