DIGItal Early Labour. A Digital Application for Coping in Early Phase of Labour.

Summary

All first-time mothers in Sweden are offered parental support, but local conditions mean that not everyone gets the opportunity to take part in this. Studies show that there is a lack of evidence-based guidelines for the design of parental support in maternal health care. Early labour or latent phase of labour is the part of childbirth were women often feel insecure, in stress and left out from care. First-time mothers who have no experience of one labour before are particularly vulnerable. Many women today use digital applications during pregnancy and in connection with childbirth. There are several digital applications that will help the woman by guiding her and her partner in different decisions about labour, but it is necessary to offer evidence-based, credible electronic and digital solutions for expectant parents. A meta-synthesis from 2018 showed that women use the internet often and the information they receive there has a great influence on their different choices in connection with childbirth. Volume, accessibility, and convenience about digital solutions play a crucial role for women and partners. The digital application Contraction Coper is designed and tested by the company Birth By Heart © in order to facilitate in early labour for the pregnant woman and her partner. The overall purpose of the project is to evaluate whether the application Contraction Coper can contribute to reduced anxiety and stress during pregnancy and childbirth and whether an additional support from a midwife can increase the application use and satisfaction of women when using the application.

A randomized controlled trial is planned where first-time mothers after pregnancy week 25 are invited to participation via social platforms. Participating first-time mothers are randomly assigned to one of three groups; experiment group one, which gets access to the application Contraction Coper, experiment group two Contraction Coper Plus which gets access to both the application and support of midwives, so-called "blended" care, or three, the control group offered customary maternity care only.

Data collection is conducted using questionnaires, mobile application and activity bracelet.

Conditions

• Pregnancy Related

Interventions

OTHER

Contraction Coper

Digital application built on the Birth without fear method, based on four different tools to be used during labour. Breathing, relaxation, voice and mind.

OTHER

Contraction Coper Plus

Digital application built on the Birth without fear method, based on four different tools to be used during labour. Breathing, relaxation, voice and mind. Clinical guidance from a midwife during two different occasions is added to the group.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Karlstad University

  collaborator OTHER

• Uppsala University

  collaborator OTHER

• Värmland County Council, Sweden

  lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

• Karin Ängeby, PhD · Region Värmland

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-10-15

Primary Completion

2023-07-15

Completion

2023-10-01

Countries

• Sweden

Study Locations