Comparing the impact of educational behavioral interventions on maternal sleep between face‑to‑face and electronic training groups, during the postpartum period

The postpartum period is a transition to a critical stage. Moreover, the rapid changes experienced after delivery, expose the mother to unpleasant experiences such as changes in sleep patterns. Trying to an appropriate training method is necessary. This study aims to conduct a comparative study between the impact of face‑to‑face training and e‑training on maternal sleep during the postpartum period.

The present study was empirically conducted on 110 postpartum mothers who visited the selected healthcare centers of Isfahan in 2015. Mothers randomly divided into three groups (face to face, electronic and control). Data collection tools included demographic and fertility questionnaire and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Intervention groups were received training such as mothers with necessary instructions regarding the health approaches, relaxation techniques, sleeping place, and energy‑saving techniques. Mothers’ quality of sleep was measured and compared before training (until the 10th day after childbirth) then in the second and third cares (from the 10th to 30th day after childbirth) in all three groups. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA and analyze variance with repeated measures in SPSS (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA,) version 17.

The results showed there was a significant difference among the sleep quality scores in the three times in the e‑training (P < 0.001) and face‑to‑face groups (P < 0.001) and in the control group (P = 0.01), but the improvement in the sleep quality score has been higher in the two groups; e‑training and face‑to‑face, than in the control group. In addition, the mothers’ mean sleep quality score was different between the control group and face‑to‑face group as well as between the control group and e‑training group. While, no statistically significant difference was found between the e‑training group and face‑to‑face group.

Training through both methods; face‑to‑face and electronic, had the same impact on maternal sleep quality during the postpartum period. Therefore, despite the belief that in‑person trainings are more effective, the findings of this research showed the effectiveness of electronic methods too, and determined that this method, has the same effectiveness as the face‑to‑face method has.