Perinatal Education in a Community Setting
Title: Perinatal Education in a Community Setting
- Identify at risk childbearing population with limited access to childbirth education.
- Describe the process for implementing a free hospital sponsored-physician office based childbirth education program.
- Describe the outcomes of the participants of the free hospital sponsored community based childbirth education program.
purpose of the Perinatal Education in a Community Setting program is to provide childbirth educators and nurses an innovative community based program that creates a
positive learning environment and access to a network of interdiciplanary resources for pregnant women and their families.
Proposed change: Experts concur that prenatal education and care are essential to decreasing preterm births. "Knowing the community” before developing interventions for health care and services
will help in articulating partnerships and culturally congruent care. Extensive literature review confirms that many barriers exist that prevent pregnant women from creating a healthy environment for
their unborn baby; lack of transportation, age, literacy, socioeconomic factors and racism. Thisprogram touches on these issues and provides the community
with needed prenatal education at the point of care to improve the outcomes for pregnant women and their babies.
Implementation, outcomes and evaluation: An obstetrician's office was designated as having a high level of delivering women that met the criteria of women at risk for not receiving childbirth education.
The childbirth education program was presented to the obstetrician's group and approved. The physician provided a conference room and storage room supplied for weekly classes. Collaborative
relationships with lactation, social work, financial counselors and translators were established. A plan of care, pre and post tests, evaluation and curriculum for four classes was developed; Understanding
Birth I/II and Baby Basics I/II. The classes focused on topics such as benefits of breastfeeding, signs and symptoms of preterm labor, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), smoking cessation and car
seat safety. The office manager identified the day and times that most of their prenatal visits occur.Childbirth educators were recruited to teach weekly classes from 10 a.m.-12p.m and
2pm-4pm. An incentive program was implimented for women that met three out of five criteria, attended all the classes and delivered at Mercy Health Fairfield. Outcome data shows that most women in the
program were primips under 25 years of age. Pre and post test data illustrated that education produced greater
understanding of the information taught.
Implications for nursing practice: Prenatal education for the vulnerable pregnant population prior to delivery helps support the education given by the perinatal nurse in the hospital.
Keywords: Childbirth education, Collaborative Interdisciplinary Relationships , Incentives, Criteria