SmartMom: Teaching by Texting to Promote Health Behaviours in Pregnancy

NCT05793944 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: H22-00603
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 3,078
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of SmartMom, a text messaging-based mobile health program for prenatal education. The main questions are to determine if healthy pregnant people receiving SmartMom messages that promote health behaviours in pregnancy versus messages that don't provoke behaviour change have improvement in:

1. 1.knowledge about healthy pregnancy and birth
2. 2.standardized measures of depression, anxiety, and fear of childbirth
3. 3.adoption of positive health behaviours in pregnancy
4. 4.maternal, fetal, and newborn outcomes

Conditions

Pregnancy

Keywords

prenatal education; perinatal outcomes; text messaging; mobile health; mental health; health behaviour

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in weight during pregnancy

  Rate of pregnancy weight gain in a range appropriate for pre-pregnancy BMI. These include self-reported data as well as data from provincial prenatal registries and the Canadian Hospital Discharge Database linked via personal health number, provided as part of the consenting procedure.

  Enrollment, 38 weeks gestation

• Attendance at prenatal care visits through pregnancy

  Rates of attendance at prenatal care appointments in adherence to Canadian guidelines. These include self-reported data as well as data from provincial prenatal registries and the Canadian Hospital Discharge Database linked via personal health number, provided as part of the consenting procedure.

  38 weeks gestation

Secondary Outcomes (10)

• Changes in health knowledge through pregnancy

  Enrollment, 38 weeks gestation

• Health literacy at end of pregnancy

  38 weeks gestation

• Changes in fear of childbirth through pregnancy

  Enrollment, 38 weeks gestational age

• Changes in depression through pregnancy

  Enrollment, 38 weeks gestational age

• Changes in anxiety through pregnancy

  Enrollment, 38 weeks gestational age

Study Arms (2)

Intervention: SmartMom messaging

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Participants receive three text messages per week with evidence-based information to promote healthy behaviours during pregnancy.

Behavioral: SmartMom text messaging

Control messaging

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Participants receive one text message per week with general information about pregnancy but not about making healthy choices.

Behavioral: Control text messaging

Interventions

SmartMom text messaging BEHAVIORAL

SmartMom is a mobile health program delivered via text messaging that guides participants through each week of pregnancy. Participants receive three messages per week with links to content focused on improving knowledge, providing information about prenatal assessments and screening, and encouraging the adoption of behaviours to support healthy pregnancy and physiologic birth. Messages are consistent with current professional guidelines and peer reviewed prenatal education curricula. SmartMom provides optional supplemental streams for individuals who wish to have additional messages addressing topics such as reducing use of tobacco, alcohol or illicit drugs, depression, obesity, and maternal age over 35.

Intervention: SmartMom messaging

Control text messaging BEHAVIORAL

Control arm participants will receive weekly text messages with accurate, general-interest information about pregnancy and about progress of the trial. Content is not geared to decision-making during pregnancy that may affect health outcomes.

Control messaging

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 15 Years+
• Sex: female
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• pregnant person
• at 15 weeks gestation or earlier
• singleton pregnancy
• can read and understand English at grade 8 level and comfortable completing online surveys
• live in Canada (excluding British Columbia where SmartMom has been piloted)

You may not qualify if:

• health conditions existing prior to pregnancy that require individualized care (e.g. hypertension, cardiac disease, diabetes)
• previously had a baby with the SmartMom program

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): collaborator
• University of British Columbia: lead

Study Sites (1)

BC Children's Hospital Research Institute

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

RECRUITING

Related Publications (7)

• Debessai Y, Costanian C, Roy M, El-Sayed M, Tamim H. Inadequate prenatal care use among Canadian mothers: findings from the Maternity Experiences Survey. J Perinatol. 2016 Jun;36(6):420-6. doi: 10.1038/jp.2015.218. Epub 2016 Jan 21.

  PMID: 26796126 BACKGROUND

• Dzakpasu S, Fahey J, Kirby RS, Tough SC, Chalmers B, Heaman MI, Bartholomew S, Biringer A, Darling EK, Lee LS, McDonald SD. Contribution of prepregnancy body mass index and gestational weight gain to adverse neonatal outcomes: population attributable fractions for Canada. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2015 Feb 5;15:21. doi: 10.1186/s12884-015-0452-0.

  PMID: 25652811 BACKGROUND

• Ganer Herman H, Dekalo A, Jubran L, Schreiber L, Bar J, Kovo M. Obstetric outcomes and placental findings in gestational diabetes patients according to maternal prepregnancy weight and weight gain. J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2019 May;32(10):1682-1687. doi: 10.1080/14767058.2017.1416078. Epub 2018 Feb 5.

  PMID: 29402158 BACKGROUND

• Munro S, Hui A, Salmons V, Solomon C, Gemmell E, Torabi N, Janssen PA. SmartMom Text Messaging for Prenatal Education: A Qualitative Focus Group Study to Explore Canadian Women's Perceptions. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2017 Feb 7;3(1):e7. doi: 10.2196/publichealth.6949.

  PMID: 28174149 BACKGROUND

• van den Heuvel JF, Groenhof TK, Veerbeek JH, van Solinge WW, Lely AT, Franx A, Bekker MN. eHealth as the Next-Generation Perinatal Care: An Overview of the Literature. J Med Internet Res. 2018 Jun 5;20(6):e202. doi: 10.2196/jmir.9262.

  PMID: 29871855 BACKGROUND

• Ennis M, Renner RM, Morando-Stokoe C, James S, Janssen PA, Leckie S, Dunn S, Mazza D, Norman WV. Exploring Methods to Mitigate Fraud in Web-Based Surveys: Multicase Study Analysis. J Med Internet Res. 2025 Dec 1;27:e78671. doi: 10.2196/78671.

  PMID: 41324984 DERIVED

• Janssen P, Lecke S, Renner R, Zhang W, Vedam S, Norman WV, Bayrampour H, Tough S, Murray J, Muhajarine N, Dennis CL. Teaching by texting to promote positive health behaviours in pregnancy: a protocol for a randomised controlled trial of SmartMom. BMJ Open. 2024 Jan 18;14(1):e081730. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-081730.

  PMID: 38238058 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Study Officials

• Patti Janssen, PhD

  University of British Columbia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Sara Leckie, MSc

CONTACT

604-875-2345; sara.leckie@ubc.ca

Patti Janssen, PhD

CONTACT

604-313-8243; patti.janssen@ubc.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 30, 2023
• First Posted: March 31, 2023
• Study Start: November 10, 2023
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027
• Last Updated: May 4, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ICF, CSR, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: At completion of study enrollment for five years
• Access Criteria: Available to academic researchers who have submitted a research protocol that has been approved by a university ethics board.

Locations

CA (1)