Effects of 1-day e-learning education on perinatal psychological support skills among midwives and perinatal healthcare workers in Japan: a randomised controlled study

BACKGROUND: Although midwives are expected to play a key role for psychological support throughout perinatal periods, their educational chances are limited. Versatile teaching strategies such as e-learning may be promising in expanding education. The objective of our study was to clarify the effects of an e-learning educational programme on midwives’ empathic communication skills. METHODS: From April 2019 to September 2019, a randomised controlled trial of a 1-day e-learning educational programme on perinatal psychological issues (both perinatal mental health assessment and empathic communication) was conducted to improve empathic communication skills of midwives and perinatal healthcare workers. Two types of measurements (paper-and-pencil multiple-choice test and video-viewing tests of simulated patient) were used to measure the competency of empathic communication skills. RESULTS: Participants (N = 115) were randomly allocated to two groups (Intervention: n = 58, Control: n = 57). The intervention group was at a significantly higher level for both post-tests of empathic communication skills compared with the control group. Both intervention and control groups showed improvements in acquiring knowledge about perinatal mental health assessments. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our study show that a 1-day e-learning programme helped improve the midwives' empathic communications skills. Therefore, an effective 1-day e-learning educational programme of perinatal mental health will expand opportunity to learn about empathic communication skills for midwives and perinatal healthcare workers. Trial registrations: UMIN000036052.