Maternal Health Risk Assessment and Behavioral Intervention in the NICU Setting Following Very Low Birth Weight Delivery

Objectives To investigate whether maternal health risk assessment and behavioral intervention in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) improves women’s health care seeking and health behaviors following the birth of a very low birth weight (VLBW) infant. Methods Using a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group pretest/posttest design, 80 women who had given birth to a VLBW infant that was admitted to the NICU were enrolled into one of two cohorts: 40 into a ‘Minimal Intervention’ cohort, who received a single session risk assessment and health education pamphlets, and 40 into an ‘Enhanced Intervention’ cohort, who received five counseling sessions targeting identified risks. The proportion of women with specific health care seeking and health behaviors in the two cohorts were compared at baseline and 3- and 9-months post-intervention. Results Women in the Enhanced Intervention cohort were more likely to attend the postpartum visit (73 % vs. 48 %; p = 0.04), ingest folic acid daily (65 % vs. 19 %, p < 0.001), and correctly and consistently use a method of contraception (82 % vs. 63 %, p = 0.03) over the 9-month follow-up period. In multivariate analysis, the between-cohort differences in daily folic acid use (aOR = 3.45, 95 % CI 1.61–7.40) and correct and consistent use of a method of contraception (aOR = 1.46, 95 % CI 1.05–2.06) remained statistically significant at 9-months and the reduction in risk of unintended pregnancy nearly achieved statistical significance (aOR = 0.62, 95 % CI 0.12–1.0). Conclusions for Practice This study provides support for the implementation of maternal risk assessment and behavioral intervention in the NICU setting to promote women’s positive health care seeking and health behaviors.