A randomised controlled multicentre trial of women’s and men’s satisfaction with two models of antenatal education

Objective

to study women’s and men’s satisfaction with two models of antenatal education: natural childbirth preparation with psychoprophylaxis, and standard antenatal education including preparation for childbirth and parenthood but no psychoprophylaxis.

Design

randomised controlled multicentre trial.

Setting

15 antenatal clinics in Sweden between January 2006 and May 2007.

Participants

1087 nulliparous women and 1064 of their partners.

Interventions

both models had four two-hour sessions during pregnancy and one session post partum. The natural model was manual-based and focused on childbirth preparation, including psychoprophylaxis. In the standard care model, the group leader was free to choose her teaching approach, with an equal amount of time allocated to preparation for childbirth and for parenthood.

Measures

women’s and men’s evaluation of antenatal education at three months post partum. The proportion of women and men in each model that expressed satisfaction with the education were compared using χ² test.

Findings

more women and men in the natural groups were satisfied with the education compared with the standard care groups: women 76% versus 68% (p=0.03) and men 73% versus 65% (p=0.03). The figures were similar for satisfaction with the childbirth preparation component: 78% and 62% in women (p<0.001), and 79% and 67% in men (p<0.001) in the natural and standard care groups, respectively. Fewer participants were satisfied with the parenthood preparation component, but the proportions were higher in the standard care groups: women 37% versus 32% (p<0.001) and men 23% versus 20% (p<0.001).

Conclusion and implications for practice

a structured manual-based model of antenatal education which focuses on childbirth preparation with psychoprophylaxis may better meet expectant parents’ expectations than standard antenatal education in Sweden.