The Effect of a Nutrition Education Program on Learning During Pregnancy: A Comparison of Group Discussions Versus Multimedia

Background: The perquisite of an effective nutritional intervention is a proper educational method. The aim of this study was to define the effectiveness of nutritional education using discussion group and multimedia on learning of pregnant women. Method: This randomized educational trial was conducted among 174 pregnant women in northeastern Iran, Gonabad city. Participants were assigned randomly to three groups (58, 57 and 59 people in multimedia group, group discussion and control group, respectively) by simple random method. The demographic information form and assessment of learning questionnaire were completed before the study in three groups. In the intervention group, training was based on discussion group and multimedia packages. Multimedia packages were given to mothers in the intervention group for 2 weeks. Group discussions mothers were divided in groups of 8 to 12 members and educational subjects were presented over three 90-minute sessions. One month after the intervention, post-test was administered to three groups. Result: The mean of Gestational age in multimedia group, group discussion and control group were 9.66, 9.54 and 9.40 weeks, respectively. The results showed that difference between cognitive score before and after intervention was significant for multimedia and discussion groups (P<0.001).  There was significant differences between groups in terms of affective domain score before and after the intervention (p=0.03). Conclusion: The effectiveness of the multimedia learning on cognitive domain and discussion group on affective domain was confirmed. Therefore, it is recommended to use innovative and effective methods such as multimedia package for the education of pregnant women.