Prenatal parent education for first-time expectant parents: "making it through labor is just the beginning…".

INTRODUCTION The purpose of this pilot project was to determine first-time expectant parents' perceptions of a parent education intervention, their education needs, and preferred sources and modes of such education. METHOD The intervention was carried out during the last class of a public health prenatal education series. A total of 31 first-time expectant parents participated and included both women (N = 16) and men (N = 15; mean, 29 years). The intervention was an in-person session on the topics of a safe sleeping environment, shaken baby syndrome, physical punishment risks and positive parenting, and expected development and safety. Participants completed the Infant Safety Education Project Questionnaire after the intervention. RESULTS Overall, most participants in this study found the content useful, planned to use it in caring for their infant, and indicated that this information should be shared with all expectant parents. DISCUSSION Findings support a larger scale study to determine parent education needs of expectant parents and the development, implementation, and evaluation of programming. Pediatric nurse practitioners and other primary care practitioners should be aware of the education needs of expectant parents and be prepared to provide anticipatory guidance and resources as appropriate.