- Title
- Testing the acceptability of stillbirth awareness messages in an SMS program for fathers
- Creator
- Fletcher, Richard; Symonds, Ian; StGeorge, Jennifer; Warland, Jane; Stark, Michael
- Relation
- Health Promotion Journal of Australia Vol. 34, Issue 1, p. 149-155
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hpja.686
- Publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2023
- Description
- Issue addressed: To raise expectant fathers' awareness of risk factors for stillbirth. Methods: A set of brief text messages was developed addressing recognised risk factors for stillbirth: avoidance of maternal cigarette smoking, maternal going to sleep on side messaging, awareness of the importance of noticing and reporting changes in foetal movement and fathers' involvement in shared decision making for timing of birth. Eight messages were inserted into the SMS4dads pilot program being conducted by NSW Health. Feedback on the messages was requested. Participants rated the quality of the messages on a three-point Likert scale and provided comments. Results: Overall, 2528 messages were sent to 626 fathers' mobile phones, 45% of fathers replied with 666 ratings and 115 comments evaluating the texts. The quantitative ratings indicated substantial overall approval of the messages. Within the coding category “Evaluation of Message Content,” three themes described fathers' reactions and feelings about the smoking, movement, side sleeping and birth timing messages: “important-good information,” “not appropriate/anxiety provoking” and “not relevant-obvious.” Three themes reflecting the attributes of the messages within the “Service Quality” category were “need more information,” “complements public health” and “child voice fit.” Conclusions: Results indicate that the messages are an acceptable way to provide information and suggested actions addressing stillbirth risk factors to fathers-to-be. So what?: Fathers' awareness of the risk factors for stillbirth can assist mothers to take appropriate actions for a healthy birth. Information on risk factors can be provided to fathers via a father-focused text messaging service.
- Subject
- stillbirth; expectant fathers; mothers; pregnancy; SDG 3; Sustainable Development Goals
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1478891
- Identifier
- uon:50249
- Identifier
- ISSN:1036-1073
- Rights
- © 2022 The Authors. Health Promotion Journal of Australia published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Australian Health Promotion Association. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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Goal 3: Good Health and Well-Being
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