# Impact of a 6-Week Postpartum Text Messaging Program (Essential Coaching for Every Mother) at 6 Months: Follow-Up Study to a Randomized Controlled Trial

## TL;DR

A 6-week postpartum text messaging program improved short-term parenting confidence and anxiety but had no lasting effects at 6 months.

## Contribution

This study evaluates the long-term effectiveness of a postpartum text messaging intervention on maternal mental health outcomes.

## Key findings

- No significant differences in parenting self-efficacy, anxiety, depression, or social support were found at 6 months between groups.
- More mothers in the intervention group had higher postpartum anxiety scores at 6 months compared to controls.
- Short-term benefits of the program at 6 weeks did not persist at 6 months postpartum.

## Abstract

Essential Coaching for Every Mother is an SMS text messaging program that positively improved parenting self-efficacy and reduced postpartum anxiety when measured immediately after intervention at 6 weeks postpartum. However, the impact of a short-term postpartum intervention over time is unknown.

This study aims to compare parenting self-efficacy, postpartum anxiety symptoms, postpartum depression symptoms, and perceived social support at 6 months postpartum for mothers in the Essential Coaching for Every Mother trial.

Participants (n=150) were randomized to Essential Coaching for Every Mother or control (usual care). Data were collected on parenting self-efficacy (primary outcome, Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale), postpartum anxiety symptoms (Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale), postpartum depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), and perceived social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support) at enrollment and 6-months postpartum. Data were analyzed using analyses of covariance and chi-square analysis.

A total of 139 women completed the primary outcome at 6 months and 136 completed secondary outcomes. At 6 months, there were no statistically significant differences between mothers in the intervention group and mothers in the control group on any of the outcomes. More mothers in the intervention group had higher postpartum anxiety scores (31/68, 45.6%) than mothers in the control group (16/68, 23.5%; P=.007).

At 6 months postpartum, all mothers had similar scores on parenting self-efficacy, postpartum anxiety symptoms, postpartum depression symptoms, and social support. Thus, Essential Coaching for Every Mother improved parenting self-efficacy and reduced postpartum anxiety at 6 weeks, with all mothers having similar scores at 6 months postpartum.