New App for Mothers-to-Be: The Gift of Motherhood

In terms of apps, there are good apps and not so good apps.  The number of apps for expectant parents is often limited to the ones that time contractions.  The new app from Customized Communications, The Gift of Motherhood, raises the standard of pregnancy/birth apps to a who new

level.

Developed with the expectant mother in mind who wants to be more involved in their care, topics in the app include healthy pregnancy tips, evidence-based labor and birth information that is up-to-date, postpartum care and newborn care tips.  Special features of the apps includes fantastic computer-generated graphics, animations plus videos!  An expectant parent also can receive week-by-week push notifications.  Also included in the app is an appointment tracker, contraction timer and journal!

The functionality of this app is incredible and sure to add to the educational journey expectant parents take to childbirth.  The videos and animations really help to enhance childbirth education.  The trackers can help keep expectant moms organized.  Like having a childbirth educator in your pocket!

This app is compatible with the iPhone, iPad and Android.

What better stocking stuffer to get the expectant parent in your family than this amazing app!

Blending Childbirth Education and eLearning--> Dreams to Reality

Just a few short years ago, I took an impromptu "study" in my childbirth education class to see where parents went for their information.  In 2008, information resources ranked like this: (1) Friends; (2) Family; (3) Books; (4) Internet; and (5) Careprovider.  Now while this was very far from being a scientific study, educators are finding out today that the internet has moved up to #2 if not #1 in the rank of pregnancy/parenting information gathering resources.  I will be speaking on this topic at the 2013 Lamaze International Conference in New Orleans in October.  What remains important as the paradigm shifts more toward elearning is evidence based information.  Guest blogger Dianne Moran RN, LCCE, ICD from Customized Communications shares about blazing this very important new trail!

Have you ever seen the movie, The Field of Dreams? In the movie, the lead character is walking through a cornfield and he hears a voice telling him “If you build it, they will come.”

The premise was if he cleared this cornfield to build a baseball ball diamond, he’d be able to host baseball’s greatest players and people would flock from everywhere to pay for a seat to watch a game. Today, more people are familiar with this phrase because it is commonly used in the world of business. It implies that if you offer a product, the customer will magically appear and want to pay you for it.

Well, that is a dream.

Most of us know success isn’t simply attained because you’ve built something. You have to position it to attract an audience and then tell them that you have what they need and most importantly why they need it from you. That requires a bit more creative finesse.

With the latest developments in healthcare reform, our clients are faced with adapting to an ever-changing landscape in hospital healthcare. Hospitals and health systems realize now more than ever that it’s simply not enough to exist as a brick and mortar establishment. They have to strategize effectively to draw the community closer and market the most comprehensive procedure they have; the patient experience. This is a great challenge because this experience doesn’t simply begin the moment they see a nurse.

The patient experience begins at home. Right now a pregnant woman is online, searching for answers to her questions about childbirth and preparing to make a monumental decision; where to have her baby.

This is where cycle of influential healthcare starts and for hospitals, the prenatal period is a prime opportunity to reach that prospective patient. At CCI, we are consistently exploring ways to help our clients use patient education to position themselves within their communities to:

• ·         Keep the hospital’s brand of healthcare highly visible and distinguishable above all the rest
• ·         Engage and educate the expectant community
• ·         Use the momentum of a positive birth outcome as a catalyst for more growth and more success

In 2008, we began cultivating our own Field of Dreams when we set out to revolutionize the way patients and hospitals connect. We started by carefully calibrating each program within our Mother-Baby library into a resource hospitals could position on their website. The goal of our eLearning was to connect the expectant patient with the nurses and educators at her hospital by offering her access to educational programs 24/7.

It’s been five years now and our dream of building a dynamic pathway between the patient and the hospital has become a reality. eLearning has quickly become one of the most innovative tools we can offer a hospital.

So where that guy heard a voice in the middle of a cornfield, we hear that mama’s voice somewhere within your community saying “If you teach me, I will come” This is the voice of expectant parents in your community, and eLearning is just one of the many ways, you can reach her and her family now and in the years to come.

Dianne Moran, RN, LCCE, ICD

Customized Communications, Inc.

2013 Childbirth Education Blog Carnival: The Blending and Balancing of High Touch and High Tech: A New Way of Learning

Welcome to Day #6 of the Blog Carnival honoring 

the International Week for Respecting Childbirth.  

We are focusing this Blog Carnival on the importance of childbirth education.

The Blending and Balancing of High Touch and High Tech:

A New Way of Learning

By Dianne Moran

My professional career began in 1974 and has been dedicated to helping, teaching and empowering expectant mothers and their partners.  As much as I have given of myself over the years, I am always surprised what I have received back two-fold.

A few years have passed since I began my career, but my passion for childbirth education is just as strong.  Every day I speak to colleagues who are worried about their jobs as prenatal, childbirth, breastfeeding and baby care educators.  They are fearful their departments will not survive cutbacks and budget woes.  They ask, "How do we get the higher-ups to understand that what we do is so important, not only to the community but to the hospital's bottom line"?  

We, as a group of passionate educators, need to rethink how we teach this new generation of expectant parents and that involves change.  Today's learners are much different than they were 40 years ago!  Not only do we have to change, but we also have to understand how this generation prefers to learn and get their information.  

Change is scary to all of us, however, as educators we have to step out of our comfort zones.  I do not want to see us losing “touch” with parents-to-be.  The basic information is the same, but it has to be taught differently in order to sustain their attention.  I believe now is the perfect time to blend high touch and high tech.  My goal and passion is to attract more participants and I truly believe with the ideas that float around in my head, it will!

Research tells us that Gen Y’ers are a group of people, used to exercising control.  They are experts at how they consume information.  They want to get in, get the information they desire and get out as quickly as possible.   Through research, I have learned:

This group:

• Are digital natives where their parents are not
• Have very short attention spans
• Are resistant to lectures
• Prefer instructors that are in action and not just talking

They prefer:

• Visual stimulation
• Creative thinking
• Not to be locked in to straight lecture
• Engaging, gaming activities
• Sharing openly with others

So I had an "Aha!" moment…I was listening to Connie Livingston, a renowned researcher in the field of childbirth education, speak to educators about how we are losing that high touch aspect we all are passionate about as educators, to online learning and social media and how we are missing the mark with today’s learners.  Immediately a vision of bringing technology into the classroom setting came to me.  I saw each learner with their own device in the classroom, following along with the instructor.  They were involved and engaged because they had been provided with interactive tools.  They were using technology to learn and view evidence-based materials, along with information about their birthing facility.  It was at that moment I knew change was not only needed, but necessary!

I am piloting this idea in five prestigious facilities.  I want to know and understand from these learners, first hand, what they need to know and how they want to learn.  It will be interesting and I am up for the challenge to not only to learn for myself, but so I can share this valuable wisdom with my peers.

I know change is hard, but we have to keep reminding ourselves as educators, that is not about us – but those individuals we are so passionate about teaching.

Dianne Moran RN, LCCE, ICD is the manager of Program Development for Customized Communications Inc. where she develops new products for the company, which involves constantly learning new things, thinking of cutting-edge materials and programs, and acting as a visionary for the future success of the company. Her passion for what she does matches the passion of the women she talks with on a daily basis in the field of obstetrics. As a former labor and delivery nurse and childbirth educator, she can relate to my peers. Dianne loves to help them problem-solve and develop new and unique educational products for their patients.  One of Dianne's favorite roles with the company is traveling and meeting with the educators and managers at hospitals all over the country. There are special bonds and friendships made that have enriched her life as well as inspired her to continue strong in what she does: educate patients to enhance their lives.