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Healthy eating education for midwives to investigate and explore their knowledge and confidence to support pregnant women to eat healthily: A mixed methods study
Shwikar Mahmoud Etman Othman, Mary Steen, Julie Fleet, Rasika Jayasekara
Building: Holme Building
Room: Cullen Room
Date: 2018-12-14 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Last modified: 2018-09-21
Abstract
Abstract
Background:
Healthy eating in pregnancy is vitally important for the health of both mother and her developing baby. Therefore, nutrition and diet education of pregnant women is an important aspect of the role of the midwife. Midwives require knowledge and confidence to advise and support women. There is evidence that shows midwives lack nutritional knowledge and confidence to support pregnant women to eat healthily.
Objective:
The aim is to design and evaluate a healthy eating education program to enhance midwives’ knowledge and level of confidence to support pregnant women in South Australia to make healthy eating choices.
Methods:
This mixed-methods study consists of two phases. The first phase, consists of ‘Healthy Eating in Pregnancy,’ education program for midwives, to be delivered through a workshop or webinar. Each midwife attends one workshop or webinar, which is approximately two hours in length. This program will be evaluated through pre-, immediate-, and post-educational questionnaires utilizing a website specifically designed for this study. The participants are midwives residing and employed in South Australia. Phase 2 will be guided by the findings gathered in Phase 1 and a purposive sample of midwives will be followed up and interviewed. These interviews will be undertaken to gain further in-depth understanding of midwives’ knowledge and how confident they feel educating pregnant women after receiving the healthy eating education. Interviews will be face-to-face or conducted by telephone with midwives.
Results:
Preliminary data analysis of Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be presented.
Conclusions:
Literature suggests that there is clear justification to undertake a mixed-methods study to investigate and explore midwives’ knowledge and confidence to support healthy eating for pregnant women. This mixed-methods study will address a gap in the literature. The results from quantitative and qualitative data sources in this proposed study will help to draw conclusions to address the research topic.
Background:
Healthy eating in pregnancy is vitally important for the health of both mother and her developing baby. Therefore, nutrition and diet education of pregnant women is an important aspect of the role of the midwife. Midwives require knowledge and confidence to advise and support women. There is evidence that shows midwives lack nutritional knowledge and confidence to support pregnant women to eat healthily.
Objective:
The aim is to design and evaluate a healthy eating education program to enhance midwives’ knowledge and level of confidence to support pregnant women in South Australia to make healthy eating choices.
Methods:
This mixed-methods study consists of two phases. The first phase, consists of ‘Healthy Eating in Pregnancy,’ education program for midwives, to be delivered through a workshop or webinar. Each midwife attends one workshop or webinar, which is approximately two hours in length. This program will be evaluated through pre-, immediate-, and post-educational questionnaires utilizing a website specifically designed for this study. The participants are midwives residing and employed in South Australia. Phase 2 will be guided by the findings gathered in Phase 1 and a purposive sample of midwives will be followed up and interviewed. These interviews will be undertaken to gain further in-depth understanding of midwives’ knowledge and how confident they feel educating pregnant women after receiving the healthy eating education. Interviews will be face-to-face or conducted by telephone with midwives.
Results:
Preliminary data analysis of Phase 1 and Phase 2 will be presented.
Conclusions:
Literature suggests that there is clear justification to undertake a mixed-methods study to investigate and explore midwives’ knowledge and confidence to support healthy eating for pregnant women. This mixed-methods study will address a gap in the literature. The results from quantitative and qualitative data sources in this proposed study will help to draw conclusions to address the research topic.