Text for Prenatal Health Study

Text for Prenatal Health Study

Currently little is known about the health beliefs and behaviors of pregnant adolescents. The goal of this pilot study is to educate pregnant adolescents via social media about nutrition and fitness during pregnancy and to evaluate their health beliefs and behaviors before and after receiving this information. Data collected will provide new information on which to base subsequent research and can be used to inform nutritional guidelines or public health programming for this vulnerable age group.

The purpose of this pilot study is to find out if receiving electronic health information (e.g. text messages and Facebook posts) during pregnancy changes how pregnant teens think about their prenatal health and if fetal and maternal health outcomes can be improved. This study aims to:

1. Assess the impact of providing health information to pregnant adolescents (through Facebook and text messages) on fetal and maternal health outcomes across pregnancy.
2. Assess maternal nutrition knowledge using a brief questionnaire before and after the social media intervention.
3. Evaluate adolescent beliefs, attitudes and influences on dietary, physical activity, and life choices by asking teens to participate in interviews and focus groups.
4. Evaluate adolescent beliefs, attitudes and influences on dietary, physical activity and life choices through the perspective of healthcare providers by interviewing allied health workers at the adolescent pregnancy clinic.

Inclusion Criteria:

• English speaking pregnant adolescents who have enrolled in the "Vitamin D Status Impacts Inflammation and Risk of Infections during Pregnancy" study (Clinical Trials ID: NCT01815047) and indicated interest on the consent form to participate in additional studies will be eligible to participate in this study. In order to participate, adolescents will have agreed to be contacted for future studies. Adolescents who are < 18 y, carrying a single fetus and between 12-30 weeks of gestation will be eligible to participate in this study.
• Healthcare providers (> 18) who work at the adolescent maternity clinic and interact with pregnant adolescents will be eligible to participate in this study. This would include nurses, midwives, nutritionists, physicians, and social workers of all ages and genders.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Exclusion criteria for this study include adolescent males and females who are not pregnant and do not speak English. Additionally, adolescents participants will be excluded if they have been diagnosed with eating disorders, malabsorption diseases, HIV infection, and diabetes (criteria outlined in parent study protocol; Clinical Trials ID: NCT01815047)
• Healthcare providers who do not speak English will not be eligible to participate in this study.