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Contact Information:

Dr Cathryn Salisbury
+44 (0)20 7040 5060
Cathryn.Salisbury@city.ac.uk


Ms Mary Sawtell
-
m.sawtell@ioe.ac.uk


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Be Part of Research - Trial Details - Community intervention to increase early uptake of antenatal care
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Community intervention to increase early uptake of antenatal care

Not Recruiting

Open to: Female

Age: Adult

London

Medical Conditions

Topic: Reproductive health and childbirth
Subtopic: Reproductive Health and Childbirth (all Subtopics)
Disease: Reproductive Health & Childbirth

This information is provided directly by researchers, and we recognise that it isn't always easy to understand. We are working with researchers to improve the accessibility of this information. In some summaries, you may come across links to external websites. These websites will have more information to help you better understand the study.


This study will look at the effectiveness of a community intervention programme to support women to have their first antenatal appointment with maternity services before the 13th week of pregnancy, in line with national guidelines. The study is part of a wider NIHR-funded programme of research that seeks to improve access to and experience of antenatal care for pregnant women living in socially deprived and ethnically diverse areas - the REACH Pregnancy Programme.

Start dates may differ between countries and research sites. The research team are responsible for keeping the information up-to-date.  

The recruitment start and end dates are as follows:

01 Apr 2015 30 Apr 2016

Publications

2018 Protocol article in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29506563 protocol2024 Preprint results in https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.15.24317381 (added 10/02/2025)

We will randomly select 10 of the 20 wards as the ones where the community programme will take place. The programme will include: training a group of peer volunteers to promote antenatal care through local networks of women; development and distribution of campaign materials; and community events to promote key messages. We will work together with local communities to co-design and develop the content of the programme. We will analyse hospital data from local maternity services to see whether pregnant women living in the programme wards begin their antenatal care earlier, and see greater benefits for both themselves and their babies, than those living in the other 10 wards. We will look at whether the programme provides good value for money. We will also interview local people who help design and deliver the programme, in order to identify issues that supported or hindered its effectiveness within their communities. Finally, we will survey some pregnant women living in the study wards to see whether or not the programme influenced their decision about when to begin antenatal care.


This study will look at the effectiveness of a community intervention programme to support women to have their first antenatal appointment with maternity services before the 13th week of pregnancy, in line with national guidelines. The study is part of a wider NIHR-funded programme of research that seeks to improve access to and experience of antenatal care for pregnant women living in socially deprived and ethnically diverse areas - the REACH Pregnancy Programme.

Who can participate?
Women who are pregnant/give birth during the time frame of the study and live in one of the 20 electoral wards in North and East London where women are more likely to delay the start of antenatal care.

You can take part if:



You may not be able to take part if:


Cluster RCT - exclusion criteria:1. Cluster (site) level - electoral wards, covered by maternity care providers enrolled on the study, where the proportion of women who have their first antenatal appointment by 12 weeks is above the NHS national target of 90%. We will also not include electoral wards which are geographically close to one another, as this increases the possibility of contamination between intervention and control sites.2. Individual level – women who are pregnant/give birth during the time frame of the study with the maternity care providers enrolled on the study, but who do not live in one of the 20 wards selected for the study.

Co-design process - exclusion criteria:Anyone under the age of 16.

Research interviews with co-design participants and peer volunteers - exclusion criteria:1. People within the intervention communities who are not involved in any aspect of the co-design process and/or the delivery of the intervention messages.2. We will also not interview people under the age of 16 years.

Survey with pregnant women - exclusion criteria:1. Pregnant women attending the antenatal clinic of a Trust enrolled on the study who do not live in intervention or control wards.2. We will not survey anyone who is under the age of 16. Additionally, where maternity staff are concerned that a woman is not competent to consent to participate in services, then they will not be invited to participate in the survey research.


Below are the locations for where you can take part in the trial. Please note that not all sites may be open.

  • City, University of London
    Health Services Research & Management (HSRM) City, University of London Northampton Square
    London
    EC1V 0HB

The potential cost-effective benefits of increasing rates of early antenatal booking are improved health outcomes for women and children, through early identification of any health needs, uptake of time-specific screening tests, monitoring of the pregnancy, advice and support around healthy behaviour. The enhanced social support available from the community is also expected to be beneficial. The intervention is also expected to benefit the members of the community recruited to design and deliver it. Benefits may include satisfaction gained from their role and acquisition of new knowledge and skills that may enhance employability. There are no anticipated risks to participants. However, as in all interventions, there may be unanticipated risks. It is possible given the intended ‘reach’ of the intervention into whole communities and not just women of child-bearing age that attempts to change service use behaviour may meet with resistance from some sections of the culturally diverse communities involved. This could create a dilemma for pregnant women who want to act on the message of the intervention but do not have support for this from their family/community. It is hoped that the co-design approach will minimise this risk.

Dr Cathryn Salisbury
+44 (0)20 7040 5060
Cathryn.Salisbury@city.ac.uk


Ms Mary Sawtell
-
m.sawtell@ioe.ac.uk



The study is sponsored by City, University of London and funded by NIHR Programme Grants for Applied Research (UK); Grant Codes: RP-PG-1211-20015.



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Read full details for Trial ID: ISRCTN63066975
Last updated 10 February 2025

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