The Effect of Postpartum Contraceptive Method Counselling on the Intention to Use Family Planning Methods

The Effect of Postpartum Contraceptive Method Counseling Based on Health Belief Model on Family Planning Attitudes and Intention to Use Contraceptives

With the acceleration of developments in health technology, changes have occurred in professional knowledge and practices, as well as in patient needs and expectations. These changes have also influenced the way nursing care is delivered, leading to a shift from traditionally applied training methods to more modern and technology-based education tools. These include telephone counseling, online and web-based counseling, and the use of models.

In recent years, the use of motivational interviewing techniques in providing counseling services has become increasingly common in the field of nursing and is considered an effective communication method. In light of this information, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of postpartum contraceptive counseling based on the Health Belief Model using motivational interviewing techniques, along with spousal participation, on women's attitudes toward family planning and their intention to use contraceptives.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of postpartum contraception counselling based on the health belief model on family planning attitudes and contraceptive method use intentions. The study was designed as a randomised controlled trial. The study population will consist of women who visited the postpartum ward at Zeynep Kâmil Women's and Children's Diseases Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul between March 2025 and November 2025. In the study, the sample size was calculated using the 'G. Power-3.1.9.2' programme at a 95% confidence level prior to the data collection phase. The study will evaluate the effect of motivational interviews based on the Health Belief Model on family planning attitudes and contraceptive use intentions. Accordingly, the scores from the 'Family Planning Attitude Scale' (difference between the intervention and control groups) used in Tavukçu's (2024) study were referenced for calculation (63). Accordingly, it was estimated that the minimum sample size required for 80% power at a significance level of 0.05 and an effect size of 0.794 would be 26 participants per group (total 52). Considering that a 20% loss may occur during the research process, the sample is planned to consist of 62 participants (intervention group = 31, control group = 31). Data collection will begin after the necessary institutional permission, ethics committee permission, and scale usage permissions have been obtained. A simple randomisation method will be used to randomly select individuals from the population and assign them to the intervention and control groups without bias. Volunteers who meet the inclusion criteria will be informed about the study and their consent will be obtained before randomisation. Using the computer-assisted https://www.random.org/integers/ programme, 31 participants will be assigned to the intervention group and 31 participants to the control group using a simple randomisation method.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Women who volunteered to participate in the study,
• were 18 years of age or older,
• were primiparous,
• spoke Turkish,
• owned a smartphone,
• had no chronic illness or diagnosed mental or psychiatric illness, were included in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women whose partners have undergone or will undergo a vasectomy, and women who have chosen tubal ligation will not be included in the study.