Essential Coaching Postpartum: Evaluating a Parent-focused Postpartum Text Message Program in Nova Scotia

NCT06996067 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 1031429
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 332
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The transition to parenthood is often an exciting yet hard period for parents. In the first year after a new baby, many parents feel less confident, have more anxiety and depression, and feel more isolated and alone. During this time, many parents use their phones and the Internet to seek out information and support. Thus, the investigators are exploring the opportunity of using mHealth, or mobile health, to provide information directly to parents after the birth of their first baby. The investigators have developed a program for both birthing and non-birthing parents called the Essential Coaching Postpartum program. This program provides 332 parents with text messages sent for 6 weeks after birth to share information on newborn care and parent outcomes. This will be tailored based on whether they are the birthing parent (Essential Coaching for Every Mother) or non-birthing parent (Essential Coaching for Every Partner). The investigators will evaluate this program by comparing a group of parents who receive the messages to a group of parents do not receive any text messages. To determine the success of the Essential Coaching Postpartum program, the investigators will compare parents' confidence, anxiety, depression, and co-parenting between the two groups after six-weeks and six-months. The investigators believe that parents who get the text messages will have higher confidence and co-parenting outcomes and lower anxiety and depression. The investigator's goal with the Essential Coaching Postpartum program is to help make the first few weeks after a new baby less stressful by providing information and support directly to parents that they know they can trust.

Conditions

Mental Health; Co-parenting Practices; Parenting Self-efficacy; Postpartum Anxiety; Postpartum Depression (PPD); Postpartum Stress

Keywords

text messaging; non-birthing parent; birthing parents; mothers; fathers; digital health

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Parenting self-efficacy

  Parenting self-efficacy will be measured using the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale (KPCS) tool. This 15-item tool was developed to assess perceived self-efficacy of parents of infants birth to twelve months of age and has acceptable internal consistent (Cronbach's alpha = 0.81) and test-retest reliability (r = 0.88). A cut off score of 39 or less (out of a possible 45) was determine to be a clinically low perceived parenting self-efficacy (PPSE).

  Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum

Secondary Outcomes (7)

• Postnatal Anxiety

  Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum

• Postpartum depression

  Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum

• Postnatal Childcare Stress

  Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum

• General distress

  Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum

• Sleep

  Enrollment, 6-weeks postpartum, 6-months postpartum

Study Arms (2)

Essential Coaching Postpartum

EXPERIMENTAL

Behavioral: Essential Coaching Postpartum

Standard care

NO INTERVENTION

Interventions

Essential Coaching Postpartum BEHAVIORAL

Essential Coaching Postpartum consists of one-way, standardized text messages sent to parents from birth to 6-weeks postpartum to provide evidence-based information on newborn care and mental health. Messages are sent twice a day for the first three weeks (10am and 5pm) and then once a day for the following three weeks (10am), starting the second day after birth.

Also known as: Essential Coaching for Every Mother, Essential Coaching for Every Partner

Essential Coaching Postpartum

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Eligible birthing parents will
• early postpartum (\<7 days) with their first child
• understand English
• have a cell phone with text and data
• be 18 years of age or old
• live in Nova Scotia.
• Eligible non-birthing parents will:
• be early postpartum (\<7 days) with their first child
• understand English
• have a cell phone with text and data
• be 18 years of age or old
• live in Nova Scotia.

You may not qualify if:

• Participants (both birthing and non-birthing parents) will be excluded if:
• newborn die or are expected to die prior to leaving the hospital
• they have no access to mobile phone, either personal or shared
• unwilling to receive SMS messages
• decline or withdraw to participate
• participated in a previous iteration of this project (e.g., either the development or evaluation).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• IWK Health Centre: lead

Study Sites (1)

IWK Health

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Dol J, Chambers CT, Parker JA, Brooks M, Dennis CL, Seguin D, Goldberg JM, Hughes B, Reese T, Richard G, Calnan K. Effectiveness of the Essential Coaching Postpartum Digital Health Solution on Parenting Self-Efficacy, Mental Health, Well-Being, and Parenting Outcomes: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 Oct 17;14:e78209. doi: 10.2196/78209.

  PMID: 41105940 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Depression, Postpartum; Psychological Well-Being

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Puerperal Disorders; Pregnancy Complications; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases; Depressive Disorder; Mood Disorders; Mental Disorders; Personal Satisfaction; Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Justine Dol, PhD

CONTACT

902-470-7766; justine.dol@iwk.nshealth.ca

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: CARE PROVIDER
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Accelerate Chair in Women+ Health Research (Principal Investigator)

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 21, 2025
• First Posted: May 30, 2025
• Study Start: June 5, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027
• Last Updated: March 27, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-03

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)