Contraception Behavior
Conditions
Keywords
postpartum family planning, RCT, mhealth
Brief summary
Multiple encounters of pregnant women with the health care system during the late antenatal and immediate postpartum period provide a gateway for postpartum family planning counselling. Counselling on family planning services during this time is considered effective and cost-efficient for promoting healthy timing and spacing of pregnancies. This research aims to test the effectiveness of mobile phone-based interventions in promoting use of postpartum contraception.
Detailed description
The study will be a three-arm, 10-month, multicentre, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial which will be conducted at 15 Suraj social franchise(SF) health facilities in Punjab province of Pakistan. Pregnant women aged 15-44 years who are in their first or second trimester and have a mobile phone for their own use will be eligible to participate in this study. The participants will be randomly allocated to one of three study arms: a) voice and text messages; b) interactive telephone-based counselling; or c) control arm (no additional phone-based support). The intervention counselling module will be developed based on the Integrated Behaviour Model which was recently adapted, and tested for the family planning context in Pakistan. It will broadly cover birth-preparedness, birth spacing and contraception, and postnatal care. The phone-based intervention aims to improve women's ability to use contraception by providing them with information about a range of methods, access to family planning methods through outlets such as Suraj SF providers, connecting them with MSS field health educators to help them reach the centres, motivation by re-enforcing the benefits of contraceptive use on women's quality of life, and dispelling myths and misconceptions about modern contraceptive methods. Risk differences will be used as the measure of effect of the intervention on the outcomes.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALText and Voice Messages
Participants in this study arm will periodically receive information regarding antenatal- and postnatal care and family planning services through text and voice messages from the fifth gestational month until the post-partum period of 42 days.
BEHAVIORALInteractive Phone Call
Participants in this study arm will receive information regarding antenatal- and postnatal care and family planning services through periodic interactive phone calls from the fifth gestational month until the post-partum period.
Sponsors
Junaid-ur-Rehman Siddiqui
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
15 Years to 44 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Married * Pregnant women with gestational age up to 20 weeks * 15-44 years old throughout duration of study * Literate * Access to a cellphone * Living in the study's catchment area
Exclusion criteria
* Not up to 20 weeks pregnant * Not between 15-44 years old for the study duration * Illiterate * Does not have regular access to a cellphone * Not residing within the catchment area * Does not provide consent to participate
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Postpartum Contraceptive Uptake | Through study completion, an average of six months | Proportion of subjects enrolled in each of the three groups who adopt any modern family planning method to delay next pregnancy |
| Skilled Birth | Through study completion, an average of six months | Proportion of women who gave birth in a health facility or through a skilled birth professional |
| Immunisation | Through study completion, an average of six months | Proportion of women reported to immunise the newborn at birth |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Intention to Adopt Modern Contraception | Through study completion, an average of six months | The proportion of subjects enrolled in the program who state that they intend to adopt any modern family planning method to delay their next birth by 24 months (by type contraceptive method and time within 42 days of postpartum period) |
Countries
Pakistan
Contacts
Primary ContactIshaque Sheikh, MSc
Backup ContactJunaid-ur-Rehman Siddiqui, BBA
Outcome results
None listed