Page 126 - Pro-active Management of Women’s Health after Cardiometabolic Complicated Pregnancies

124 | Part 3 Lifestyle intervention
personal performance levels (e.g., nutritional intake) and awareness of their own performance, as well as personal motivation to change, goals, outcome expectations, subjective norms, self-efficacy, self-regulation processes and other possible behavioral determinants237 239. Now that computer-tailored health education is recognized as a promising health education strategy, computer- tailored lifestyle interventions for various behaviors are currently offered on the World Wide Web65 240 241.
Considering the individual differences in pregnancy complications and their consequences, physical and psychological recovery, and other personal factors (e.g., education and family composition), the use of tailored lifestyle interventions seems to be highly suitable. For example, face-to-face lifestyle counseling or computer-tailored lifestyle advice might be offered. Moreover, tailoring a lifestyle intervention to the specific characteristics and preferences of these high-risk women is expected to promote participation and adherence to the intervention. In the process of developing such a tailored intervention, opinions, needs, and ideas of women who have recently experienced such pregnancy complications should be taken into account.
Although the postpartum period after a pregnancy complicated with preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and/or gestational diabetes, is considered to be a window of opportunity for preventive interventions shortly after delivery1 230, little is known about what the lifestyle interventions aimed at these high-risk women should consist of. Up to now, little information is available about women’s preferences regarding postpartum lifestyle counseling. Therefore, we conducted focus group interviews among women after a pregnancy complicated with preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction and/or gestational diabetes in order to document their needs, opinions, and ideas regarding postpartum lifestyle counseling. Two different types of lifestyle