Development of a framework to digitalize antenatal health education and information in maternal health care services in the selected district in the Gauteng province

Abstract

Introduction The digitalisation of the antenatal health education and information is a crucial aspect in the maternal and child health care system when caring for Generation Y pregnant women and their families. In this technological era, the implementation and utilisation of the mobile phone in support of maternal and childcare is identified as receiving increasing attention. The researcher believes that there is urgent need for digitalisation of the antenatal health education and information in the maternal healthcare which is empirically grounded from the end-user perspectives in the Gauteng Province. Aims The study aimed to develop a framework to digitalise antenatal health education and information in the maternal health services in a selected district in Gauteng Province. Objectives The objectives of the study were under two phases which are as follows: Phase I: • To explore the perceptions of pregnant women about the digitalisation of antenatal health education and information in the maternal health care services in the selected district in the Gauteng Province. • To explore the perceptions of midwives about the digitalisation of antenatal health education and information in the maternal health care services in the selected districts in the Gauteng Province. Phase II: • To develop a framework to digitalise antenatal health education and information in the maternal health care services in the selected district in Gauteng Province. • To validate the developed framework by the experts’ panel in the midwifery context by making use of the eDelphi technique method through a Qualtrics survey.

Methods The study was conducted in phases following a qualitative descriptive constructive research design using focus group discussion and semi-structured one-on-one interviews as data collection methods in Phase I. The findings from Phase I guided the development of a framework to digitalise antenatal health education and information in maternal healthcare services in a selected district in the Gauteng Province. Population The population comprises pregnant women, registered midwives, and the expert team which is comprised of experienced professionals in the midwifery context nationally and internationally. Data collection Prepared structured interview guides were used to guide the data collection process. Focus group discussions for Objective I were conducted physically. However, one-on-one interviews were used for Objective II. The interviews were conducted online and or physically, depending on the participants’ availability and preference. Six Kipling’s method was used to develop the framework. Validation of the framework was done by the expert panel through the eDelphi technique. Data analysis Data was analysed as it was collected, following the procedures outlined by Gray, Grove, and Sutherland (2017: 269). Findings The findings of Phase I of the study identified the six concepts which are: Meaning of digitalisation, HEI which must be packaged, Presentation format for digitalisation, Collaborators of the digitalisation process, Benefits of digitalisation, and Anticipated barriers. In Phase II, the framework to digitalise the antenatal health education and information in the maternal healthcare services in the selected district in the Gauteng Province was developed based on Phase I’s six concepts and was validated by experts in the midwifery context.

Recommendations Six recommendations were made on the developed framework, and five on further research. Conclusions The framework was developed from the findings of the phase 1 based on end user’s perspectives and validated by the national and external experts. Ethics and trustworthiness consideration Ethical principles and the principles of trustworthiness was ensured in the study process. Permission letters for the study were obtained from all gatekeepers.