supportive-educational tele-counseling versus routine care for treatment of constipation and heartburn

Background: pregnancy prompts a raft of physiological changes in women, such as constipation and heartburn. the telephone is one of the most accessible means of communication for people. the present study aimed to assess the impact of tele supportive-educational counseling on treating constipation and heartburn among pregnant women.methods: this study is a quasi-experimental study on 110 pregnant women referring to primary care centers in neyriz and estahban, fars, iran in 2020. the rome iii and gerd (gastroesophageal reflux disease) questionnaires assessed constipation and heartburn in pregnant women, respectively. the two questionnaires were completed before the intervention. participants scoring over eight were distributed between the intervention and control groups to assess the constipation and heartburn variables. individuals were randomly assigned to the intervention and control groups. in the intervention groups, the researcher provided telephone educational support counseling via three calls of 10-20 minutes, weekly for three weeks. in the control group, standard care was offered. one week after the intervention, the two questionnaires were completed again. data were analyzed using spss version 25. results: in the constipation and heartburn intervention groups, tele-supportive-educational counseling before and after the intervention significantly mitigated constipation and heartburn (p<0.0001).conclusion: the results suggested that educational supportive telephone counseling has improved constipation and heartburn in pregnant women. hence, this method can be recommended to midwifery policymakers as a treatment method for pregnant women in clinical settings.