Trusted sources of nutrition information during first pregnancy: a cross-sectional qualitative study
By Laura Naylor - Nutrition Science and Practice
Abstract
Background
Optimum maternal nutritional status during pregnancy is vital to ensure good maternal and foetal health. A key contributor to a pregnant woman’s nutritional status is her knowledge of how to optimise this during pregnancy. It is therefore vital that women have access to sufficient, accurate and up-to-date antenatal nutrition information throughout their pregnancy.
Aim
This study aimed to discover what sources of antenatal nutrition information were accessed by UK women during their first pregnancy, which sources they trusted the most, and why.
Methodology
A relativist ontology alongside an interpretive epistemology facilitated the adoption of an inductive philosophical perspective using a phenomenological methodology. A qualitative, cross-sectional study was conducted using a convenience sample of primigravida women. An interview topic guide was developed and piloted with two participants. Five semi-structured interviews were then conducted. All interviews were independently transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. Pilot data were excluded from analysis.
Findings
Data analysis identified two themes: sources of antenatal nutrition information, and most trusted sources. Most common sources of antenatal nutrition information accessed by participants included NHS midwives (n=5), NHS website (n=4), ‘Bounty pregnancy and baby’ application (n=4), online pregnancy forums (n=4), Facebook pregnancy forums (n=3), friends with children (n=3) and participant’s own mothers (n=3). Most trusted sources included the NHS website (n=3), NHS community midwife (n=1), other NHS healthcare professionals (n=1), pregnancy books (n=1) and a pregnancy yoga instructor (n=1).
Conclusion
This small-scale study (n=5) encountered an ethics breach, though there were no negative consequences for participants or data. The study design was affected by selection, recall and non-response bias, limiting the generalisability of findings outside of the population studied. However, findings were able to address the research aim, providing an insight in what sources of antenatal nutrition information are accessed by UK pregnant women, which sources they trust the most and why. Future research with a larger sample size and expanded recruitment is required to support and increase the generalisability of the findings.
