Assessing the effectiveness of a pediatrician-led newborn parenting class on maternal newborn-care knowledge, confidence and anxiety: A quasi-randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background: The postpartum hospital stay is a unique opportunity for clinicians to educate parents on the importance of promoting early child development. Pediatricians are well positioned to address both medical and developmental concerns during critical periods of development, yet very few parenting interventions are led by pediatricians. Aims: To assess the impact of a novel one-hour long pediatrician-led Newborn Class on maternal knowledge, confidence, and anxiety. Methods: We conducted a nonrandomized controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the Newborn Class. First-time mothers who delivered a full-term singleton vaginally with no major complications and attended the class were recruited. Mothers who expressed a desire to attend the class but were discharged before a class was offered served as controls. Outcome measures: Maternal self-perceived anxiety and confidence were measured using standardized scales (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Adults and Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale). Knowledge on newborn care was assessed using a novel scale. Results: A total of 84 participants (intervention n=36, control n=48) were included in the study. Mothers who attended class showed significantly higher levels of knowledge compared to the control group as well as significantly higher parenting confidence levels. No change was observed in the overall level of anxiety. Conclusions: A short pediatrician-led parenting intervention can be an effective tool in improving maternal confidence and newborn care knowledge. Given the importance of the newborn period in establishing healthy developmental trajectories, this cost-and timeeffective intervention could be widely implemented to promote early strong mother-infant relationships that foster healthy development.

Effect of Maternal and Newborn Care Intervention on Maternal Functioning of Primiparous Mothers

“…Likewise, a quasi-randomized controlled trial was conducted in New York to determine the effect of pediatrician-led newborn class of first-time mothers. In that study, the intervention group had higher knowledge score than the control group and this difference was statistically significant (p < 0.001) (Gozali et al, 2020).Since professional-led class was found effective for enhancing the knowledge of mothers, educational classes should be organized and delivered by health care professionals. Also, postnatal education is a central strategy to pass the newborn care knowledge and skills to the mother and family as women are more receptive to the maternal and newborn care information than before delivery of their babies (Shrestha et al, 2016).…”

The mediating role of postnatal sense of security in the relations between parenting confidence and symptoms of anxiety and depression in Chinese parents: A dyadic analysis

“…These results indicate the importance of enhancing the parental parenting con dence, which could promote the tendency to feel security and further decrease anxiety and depression. Supports for parents might include, but should not be limited to, prenatal education, newborn parenting class, the Fussy Baby Network® intervention, and emotional assistance strategies (32)(33)(34)(35).…”

Information Available to Parents Seeking Education about Infant Play, Milestones, and Development from Popular Sources

“…In parallel, we propose that an innovative and effective way to address this challenge would be through the development of high-quality universal education programs that teach parents how to engage and support infants in ways shown to promote learning and development. Universal parent education programs that provide information via the sources parents prefer to access have the potential to positively impact parental knowledge [8], parent-child interaction [9,10], child development [11], and discussions between parents and care providers [12]. These outcomes would be beneficial for all children, while being especially beneficial for children with unidentified and/or untreated developmental delays.…”

“…These relations have been demonstrated among parents of differing ages [14], varying socioeconomic status [16], across cultures [15,21,22], and with infants with typical development as well as those born preterm and at increased risk for developmental delay [20]. Importantly, there is the potential to improve parental knowledge [8], parent-child interaction [10,23,24], and infant development [11,25,26] through parent education interventions [27,28].…”