the effect of a mobile-based safe motherhood education program on postpartum care knowledge of marginalized women

Introduction: marginalization and lack of proper access to healthcare services are among the most important factors affecting maternal and neonatal health. objective: this study aimed to investigate the effect of a mobile-based safe motherhood learning program on the postpartum care of marginalized women in iran. materials and methods: this is a quasi-experimental study conducted on 244 postpartum women referring to comprehensive health centers in the outskirts of karaj, alborz province, iran, in 2021-2022. participants were included using a convenience sampling method, and randomly assigned to two groups of intervention (n=122) and control (n=122). the intervention group received routine care plus the educational application. data were collected using a socio-demographic checklist, a postpartum care knowledge scale, a postpartum care performance scale, and a socioeconomic status questionnaire in three stages, before the intervention (postpartum days 3-5), second week of postpartum (postpartum days 14-15), and sixth week of postpartum (postpartum days 42-45). independent t-test and the repeated measures anova were used for data analysis. results: the mean age of women was 27.3±6.8 years in the intervention group and 28.5±5.6 years in the control group. the results showed a significant increase in the mean scores of infants’ nutritional status, mothers’ self-care behavior, mothers’ infant care behavior, and their total postpartum care knowledge over time in the intervention group (p=0.001), but the differences were not statistically significant in the control group for any variables. the scores of these variables in two post-intervention stages (days 14-15 and days 42-45 postpartum)differed significantly between the two groups (p=0.001). the effect size was 34.2% for infants’ nutritional status, 65.8% for mothers’ self-care behaviors, 50.5% for mothers’ infant care behaviors, and 71.1% for the total postpartum care knowledge. conclusion: the mobile-based safe motherhood learning program can improve iranian marginalized women’s postpartum care knowledge. considering the importance of the health of mothers and babies, this mobile-based learning program is recommended to empower marginalized postpartum women in iran.