A randomized, controlled trial to measure the frequency of use of a hospital telephone line for new parents

Abstract

New parents have fewer supports today than in previous decades due to factors such as short postpartum hospital stay, fragmentation of services, and long-distance families. This controlled trial evaluated the frequency of use of a 24-hour, in-hospital telephone line by 130 parents randomly invited to use the service and 130 who were not aware of this service. A special line with a separate extension was installed on the postpartum unit. Randomly arranged, sealed envelopes were given to 260 women at the time of discharge, containing a congratulations message or description of a new 24-hour telephone line for advice given by postpartum nurses. Of 53 calls requesting help, 36 were received on the special line and 17 on regular ward telephones; 28 percent of those invited to call back did so, and 13 percent of those without an invitation called on the regular extension, (P = 0.015). Recommendations for future program planning are based on the results of this study.