Reyes-Lacalle, A., Montero-Pons, L., Manresa-Domínguez, J. M., Cabedo-Ferreiro, R., Seguranyes, G., & Falguera-Puig, G. (2020). Perinatal contraceptive counselling: Effectiveness of a reinforcement intervention on top of standard clinical practice. Midwifery, 83, 102631. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2020.102631
Intervention Components (click on component to see a list of all articles that use that intervention): Motivational Interviewing/Counseling
Notification/Information Materials (Online Resources, Information Guide)
Text Messaging
Intervention Description: At half of the centres, midwives provided the standard Spanish postpartum contraceptive counselling (control group, CG). At the other half, supplemental perinatal contraceptive counselling was provided in addition to standard counselling (intervention group, IG) at different time points during pregnancy and postpartum. This consisted of a leaflet and a blog with practical information about all contraceptive options plus a short reminder message in the mobile phone during the third quarter of pregnancy and a face-to-face or a virtual meeting lasting 20 min in the first 15 days postpartum. Midwives used ad hoc questionnaires to collect information at week 30 of pregnancy (recruitment), and week 6, month 6 and month 12 postpartum.
Intervention Results: 975 women were eligible for analysis (482 in the CG and 493 in the IG). ~33% women had resumed sexual intercourse by week 6, and nearly all by months 6 and 12. Use and effectiveness of contraceptives was similar in both groups at week 6 and month 6. At month 12, more women in the IG used more effective contraception and less women used contraceptives considered somewhat effective vs. those of the CG (P = 0.006). When considering the place of origin, this was only true for Spanish women. Women of other origins had a much higher use of very effective contraceptives at month 12 also in the CG, with contraceptive counselling having scarce effect. On multivariate analysis, conducted only in Spanish women, the additional counselling resulted in a higher use of highly effective methods while having a university degree increased 3.6 times the OR for this behaviour. A bias towards fostering use of very effective contraceptives among women with low education was seen in standard clinical practice. Satisfaction with counselling and the type of contraception chosen was higher in the IG.
Conclusion: Our study has shown that the supplemental counselling tested has a moderate impact on contraceptive use and use of effective contraception in postpartum women. Results of this effort were seen after 6 months postpartum. A possible bias towards women who were more socially vulnerable was found in standard clinical practice, which reduced the effectiveness of the intervention in women who were otherwise the most needy.
Study Design: Randomized controlled trial
Setting: Primary care clinic in National Health Care System, Catalonia, Spain
Sample Size: 975 women (482 in control group; 493 in intervention group)
Age Range: At least 18 years old, no maximum age provided
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