Comparing Different Methods of Patient Education on Preeclampsia

This is a three-arm prospective randomized controlled trial to evaluate patient knowledge of preeclampsia after different forms of education. In the first arm participants will be given a graphic card depicting signs and symptoms of preeclampsia; they will be permitted to keep this card. In the second arm participants will be shown an educational video on preeclampsia. In the third arm participants will have no visual form of patient education; they will be exposed only to the counseling they receive with their routine prenatal care. Participants will be primiparous patients recruited from the prenatal clinic at 18-24 weeks gestation. At time of consent, baseline anxiety assessment with the STAI-6 questionnaire will be obtained followed by a short demographic survey. Participants will be given a short survey on preeclampsia knowledge. They will then be randomized to either preeclampsia education with educational video, graphic card or no visual educational intervention. The participants will be randomized by computer-generated randomization schema (1:1:1). Those randomized to the card will be given a few minutes to review the card. Those randomized to the educational video will watch the video which runs two minutes and 45 seconds. For those randomized to no further intervention, the initial interview will then be over. For the first two arms receiving the graphic card or watching the video, the STAI 6 assessment will be re-administered immediately after the educational intervention and then the interview will be over. Medical record numbers from every participant will be collected for chart review of demographics, preeclampsia risk factors, pregnancy follow up (including triage calls and visits) and delivery outcomes. The participants will be approached again at 32w0d-36w6d gestation to complete a follow up preeclampsia knowledge survey to assess retention of knowledge. This follow-up survey will be collected via phone interview. Participants in the control arm receiving routine prenatal care will also complete a follow up knowledge survey as a control.