Prenatal alcohol education for low-income women with interactive multimedia

Prenatal alcohol use is a major cause of birth defects and other adverse outcomes of pregnancy. Educating expectant mothers concerning the need to limit alcohol consumption has been advocated as a method to decrease alcohol-related birth problems, however providing this service for low-income women is increasingly difficult due to ongoing changes in obstetrical practice patterns. The purpose of this work was to develop and test a computer-based multimedia prenatal alcohol education program which would be appropriate for use in a poor rural patient population. We first review the effect of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and previously employed intervention strategies. Then the design, development, and evaluation of the program is described. The content of the program reflects user beliefs and attitudes and takes advantage of a computer-based multimedia approach. This format provides numerous opportunities for user interaction, requires little reading ability and offers the potential to increase levels of health education efforts with no increase in staff. The program was found to be well accepted, to provide new information and to demonstrate potential for effecting change in behavioral intention. Possible uses of this technology for educating similar populations and the use of computers for health screening are discussed.