Background: Poor self-perineal care due to inadequate knowledge can result in perineal pain and poor wound healing outcome.
Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of self-perineal care education (SPC education) on knowledge and practice among primigravida mothers in Malaysia.
Methods: A quasi-experimental study was conducted in two public tertiary care hospitals from September 2019 to March 2020. Hundred and twenty-five mothers were recruited using consecutive sampling procedures at two tertiary care hospitals. Sixty-two mothers in the second hospital received SPC education supplemented with the mobile application, while the other sixty-three mothers in the second hospital received only routine care. The mothers’ knowledge of self-perineal care was accessed during antenatal and 4 hours post-delivery. The mothers in both groups reported their perineal care on Day 1, Day 3, Day 5, and Day 7 post-childbirth using the ‘SPCE’ mobile application.
Results: There was no significant difference in the SPC knowledge scores between the two groups at baseline (P = 0.155). Post analysis, there was a significant increase in SPC knowledge score in the intervention group (P< 0.001) but not in the control group (P = 0.133). For all time points, the mothers in the intervention group performed better self-perineal care practice than those in the control group (P < 0.001). There were significant associations between changes in knowledge and practice on all four days (P < 0.001).
Conclusions: The increased self-perineal care knowledge was significantly associated with improved self-perineal care practice among the primipara mothers postnatally.