Preventive Counseling in Routine Prenatal Care—A Qualitative Study of Pregnant Women’s Perspectives on a Lifestyle Intervention, Contrasted with the Experiences of Healthcare Providers

Maternal lifestyle during pregnancy and excessive gestational weight gain can influence maternal and infant short and long-term health. As part of the GeMuKi intervention, gynecologists and midwives provide lifestyle counseling to pregnant women during routine check-up visits. This study aims to understand the needs and experiences of participating pregnant women and to what extent their perspectives correspond to the experiences of healthcare providers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 pregnant women and 13 multi-professional healthcare providers, and were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. All interviewees rated routine check-up visits as a good setting in which to focus on lifestyle topics. Women in their first pregnancies had a great need to talk about lifestyle topics. None of the participants were aware of the link between gestational weight gain and maternal and infant health. The healthcare providers interviewed attributed varying relevance regarding the issue of weight gain and, accordingly, provided inconsistent counseling. The pregnant women expressed dissatisfaction regarding the multi-professional collaboration. The results demonstrate a need for strategies to improve multi-professional collaboration. In addition, health care providers should be trained to use sensitive techniques to inform pregnant women about the link between gestational weight gain and maternal and infant health.