María Caballero-Galilea, Juan Carlos Fernández-Gonzalo, Isabel Font-Jiménez, José Miguel Mansilla-Domínguez, Esther Martínez-Miguel
A nurse-led digital prenatal newsletter was perceived as a valuable complement to routine prenatal care, supporting women's sense of preparation and continuity throughout pregnancy. These findings suggest that nurse-led digital education may support women's experience of care, although they do not establish clinical effectiveness or organizational impact.
OBJECTIVE: To explore pregnant women's and obstetricians' experiences with a nurse-led digital newsletter and its perceived value as a complement to routine prenatal care.
DESIGN: Descriptive qualitative study.
SETTING: Department of obstetrics and gynecology of a tertiary hospital in the Madrid region of Spain.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventeen pregnant women enrolled in the digital newsletter program, with nine obstetricians providing prenatal care at the participating hospital.
METHODS: Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted using criterion-based purposive sampling. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke.
RESULTS: Three main themes emerged: Accessing trustworthy and timely information, Preparing for routine prenatal visits and shared understanding, and Perceived continuity ofsupport and added value to the prenatal care experience. Women described the week-by-week evidence-based information as helping them feel better informed and less uncertain throughout pregnancy. Obstetricians perceived that the newsletter helped address predictable informational needs and supported women in attending routine prenatal visits better prepared and with more focused questions.
CONCLUSION: A nurse-led digital prenatal newsletter was perceived as a valuable complement to routine prenatal care, supporting women's sense of preparation and continuity throughout pregnancy. These findings suggest that nurse-led digital education may support women's experience of care, although they do not establish clinical effectiveness or organizational impact.