Feasibility of software prompts to support antenatal vaccination decision-making: A cross-sectional study

Objectives: Vaccination in pregnancy is recommended to protect newborn infants against whooping cough, and pregnant people and their infants against influenza. Influenza vaccination is recommended at any time in pregnancy and pertussis vaccination is recommended after 16 weeks gestation. However, some pregnant people are not aware of recommendations or the importance of antenatal vaccination. This study explores the feasibility of adding a targeted prompt for discussion of antenatal vaccination into a maternity client-management software in Aotearoa New Zealand. Design: Explanatory cross-sectional study. Setting: Midwives practising as lead maternity carers in Aotearoa New Zealand. Method: Participants were asked about the feasibility and usefulness of including a prompt in antenatal client-management software to encourage and support discussion about antenatal vaccination. The online survey was composed of multiple choice and Likert-type scale questions with additional free-text options investigating opinions on prompts, how the prompts should occur and potential for supportive resources. Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics and descriptive qualitative analysis of open-ended responses. Results: A total of 139 midwives participated in the study. Most respondents indicated they would be open to having a prompt in their client-management software to support discussion about vaccinations and thought it would be useful. Over three-quarters considered a pop-up style prompt would be most convenient if it could be easily turned off when no longer needed. Conclusions: A pop-up prompt in antenatal client-management software with additional resources and features would be useful to midwives to support timely discussions about antenatal vaccination. However, for prompts to be useful, they must be designed so as to minimise disruption to midwives’ workflow and be able to be switched off if necessary.