The development and evaluation of a microbiota education programme intended for women

Findings in the literature indicate that women often have incorrect or incomplete knowledge about the concepts of microbiota, microbiome, probiotics, prebiotics, and their relationship with women's health, pregnancy, childbirth methods, and breast milk. In this regard, designing educational programs that contribute to preventing reproductive system infections, achieving positive fertility outcomes, and supporting the health processes of women and newborns through the microbiota of the female body can contribute to the current situation. In line with this aim, in this study, the development and evaluation of a microbiota education program for women were conducted.

The research was conducted with 151 female participants in a pre-test and post-test, single-group, quasi-experimental design. The trainings were conducted for 2 days, with a total of 4 h for each group, 2 h each day. The microbiota knowledge test applied before the training was repeated as a post-test after 4 weeks. SPSS 25.0 was used for data analysis.

It was determined that there was a statistically significant difference between the pre-training and post-training knowledge scores of the participants, with the post-training knowledge scores being higher than the pre-training scores (p<0.05). It was found that there was an increase in intra-group means for age, education level, occupation, number of pregnancies, number of births, and method of delivery after the training.

As a result of the evaluations, it was concluded that the microbiota education program developed and implemented for women addressed all female participants.