Influence of Decision Aids on the Choice of Mother-infant Rooming-in or Separation Care for Pregnant Women

During early postpartum period, mother-infant proximity is important for breastfeeding success. Rooming-in and separate care are both traditional practices. Rooming-in involves keeping the mother and the baby together in the same room after birth during hospitalization, whereas separate care keeps the baby in the hospital baby room. Shared decision making with decision aid (DA) is a way to provide information to pregnant women and to involve them in making decisions about their strategy on baby care. We have developed a DA to be administered during consultation for pregnant women, and conducted a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to evaluate the benefit of DA on decision making. The measurements include a battery of interview-based questionnaires and evaluations of decision regret. We expect the DA would benefit the intervention group in the aspects of knowledge and communication in choosing mother-baby care options.