Effective Antenatal Education: Strategies Recommended by Expectant and New Parents |
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| Authors: | Jane Svensson Lesley Barclay Margaret Cooke |
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| Institution: | JANE SVENSSON is the Health Education Coordinator at the Royal Hospital for Women in Sydney, Australia.;LESLEY BARCLAY is a professor in Health Services Development at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia.;MARGARET COOKE is an honorary fellow in the Nursing, Midwifery and Health Faculty at the University of Technology – Sydney, Australia. |
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| Abstract: | Antenatal education is a crucial component of antenatal care, yet practice and research demonstrate that women and men now seek far more than the traditional approach of a birth and parenting program attended in the final weeks of pregnancy. Indeed, women and men participating in this study recommended a range of strategies to be provided during the childbearing year, comparable to a “menu in a restaurant.” Their strategies included three program types: “Hearing Detail and Asking Questions,” “Learning and Discussing,” and “Sharing and Supporting Each Other.” The characteristics of each type of program are identified in this article. The actual learning methods the study participants recommended to be incorporated into the programs were “Time to Catch Up and Focus,” “Seeing and Hearing the Real Experience,” “Practicing,” and “Discovering.” |
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| Keywords: | childbirth education antenatal education expectant parents pregnancy adult learners |
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