Project
Power 4 a Healthy Pregnancy - The development, implementation and evaluation of a programme to improve diet quality of pregnant women using empowerment
A healthy diet is important for everyone, but crucial during pregnancy for the health of both mother and child. However, pregnant women, especially those with lower socioeconomic status (SES), often fail to meet the nutritional requirements. Healthy nutrition promotion by midwives is very promising, but midwives find it difficult to contribute to a healthier dietary intake for pregnant women. The goal of this research project is to develop, implement and evaluate a programme to improve diet quality of pregnant women using empowerment. This will contribute to a healthy and successful start of life.
In this research, an empowerment strategy was developed, implemented, evaluated and optimized jointly with stakeholders – i.e. midwives, dieticians and pregnant women and their partners. The developed programme Power 4 a Healthy Pregnancy aimed to improve the diet quality of pregnant women using empowerment.
Power 4 a Healthy Pregnancy was successfully implemented in sixteen midwifery practices in the Netherlands with 342 participating pregnant women from 2021 to 2023. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, we gained valuable insights into the impact of Power 4 a Healthy Pregnancy on pregnant women, their experiences with the strategy, and the evaluation of the strategy by midwives and dieticians in terms of benefits and barriers, impact, and multidisciplinary collaboration.
Our research showed that the total diet quality significantly improved in the intervention group compared to the control group, particularly for vitamin D, iodine, and fish intake. Pregnant women valued the personalized nutritional guidance from dieticians and the supportive role of midwives in maintaining their motivation throughout pregnancy. Healthcare professionals reported enhanced interprofessional collaboration and a deeper understanding of each other's roles. The flexibility of the program proved crucial for successful implementation across diverse practice settings. This approach allowed midwives and dieticians to adapt the timing and delivery of consultations while preserving the core empowerment elements of the program.
The results from this study provide evidence for the effectiveness of an empowerment-based approach to improving prenatal nutritional care. Following this research, various aspects of the strategy have been further explored – such as partner involvement, bridging antenatal and postnatal care regarding dietary support, and improving the diets of parents with a baby. For more detailed information about the study results, please see our publications or contact the research team.
The project is part of the “Regio Deal Foodvalley”, part 2: "Nutrition and Health, from early start to the old day”