Terms of Consent

SmartMom™ is a prenatal education program that texts evidence-based messages to guide women through each week of pregnancy. Messages are tailored to gestational age and include links to websites, phone numbers and videos on topics such as fetal growth and development, options for screening in pregnancy, and preparation for labour and delivery. The SmartMom™ program was developed to support women and their families to make evidence-informed choices for healthy pregnancy and childbirth.

If you sign up for the SmartMom™ program, you will be asked to complete two surveys - one at enrollment and a follow-up survey near the end of your pregnancy. You will also be asked to provide your personal health number (PHN). Your enrollment in the SmartMom™ program does not require completing the surveys or providing your PHN - participation is completely voluntary. You can choose to answer some or none of the survey questions.

The information you are asked for in the surveys is used as part of a research study to learn about the health and behavioural characteristics of pregnant women who sign up for SmartMom™, including how participants find out about the program, and will be used to improve the content, design and delivery of the program. This study is being conducted by academic researchers from the University of British Columbia in collaboration with provincial health authorities. The study has been approved by the Ethics Committees at the Fraser, Interior, Island, Northern, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, and the University of British Columbia. You are being invited to take part in this study because you are pregnant and living in Canada. We have not identified any risks associated with taking part in the surveys or any direct benefits. You may learn more about pregnancy and preparing for labour and delivery, including what you can do to have a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Your survey answers may help us learn how to better reach out to women to inform them about the program and help us to improve the program. Your confidentiality is respected at all times: no information that discloses your identity will be published. Answers to survey questions will be reported in aggregate - that is, results will be reported for groups and not for individuals.

As part of this study, we are also requesting that you provide your personal health number (PHN) as we would like to look at ways to improve maternity care. Your PHN would allow us to look at health outcomes in an anonymous fashion, including number of prenatal visits attended, and interventions in labour and delivery, such as cesarean delivery rates. Study staff and investigators will not have access to your PHN and will not be able to link it to any information about your health outcomes or your survey answers. The SmartMom™ website administrator (MEMOTEXT in Toronto, ON) will send your PHN in a safe encrypted fashion to the Health Authority. The Health Authority will use it to send the study team data without your PHN attached. MEMOTEXT will then erase your PHN from their database.

Participant Consent

Your participation in the surveys indicates that you are providing consent and that you are expecting that:

1. Any information you provide in the surveys will be kept confidential.

2. Only study staff, investigators, and website administrators (MEMOTEXT) will have access to your survey answers. Answers provided to study investigators for analysis by MEMOTEXT will not be linked to your name, phone number or personal health number (PHN). This means that study staff will not be able to see or link your personal identifying information to you or your answers.

By signing up for SmartMom™ you:

1. Agree and consent to receive text messages from SmartMom™.

2. Acknowledge the right to discontinue your enrollment in SmartMom™ and/or the study surveys at any time without giving a reason and without any negative impact on you. You can discontinue receiving text messages from SmartMom™ by texting STOP" to the sender (12323).

3. Accept that SmartMom™ will not provide you with any personalized medical advice with regard to your individual circumstances and/or your medical condition.

4. Accept that, although SmartMom™ will not charge you to sign up or to receive the text messages, standard message and data rates may apply. This means that you may be charged by your mobile phone service provider (e.g. Bell, Rogers, Telus, etc.) for receiving/sending SmartMom™ text messages and/or browsing links included in the text messages, depending on the type of phone plan you are currently on.

5. Confirm that you have had the opportunity to ask questions and have had your questions answered to your satisfaction.

Contact Information

If you have any questions, or desire further information about this study or the SmartMom™ program before or after your participation, you can contact the Principal Investigator, Dr. Patricia Janssen, at 604-827-4026. You can also contact the Research Manager, at 604-875-2314, toll-free at 1-855-871-BABY (2229) or by email at contact@smartmomcanada.ca. If you have any concerns about your rights as a research subject and/or your experiences while participating in this study, contact the Research Subject Information Line at the University of British Columbia Office of Research Services by e- mail at RSIL@ors.ubc.ca or by phone at 604-822-8598 (toll-free: 1-877-822-8598).

Study Team

Principal Investigator:	Patricia Janssen, PhD, Professor UBC School of Population and Public Health 604-827-4026
Co-investigators:
M. Coman, RN, MSN	Regional Practice Initiatives Lead, Early Childhood Development, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority
N. Fairbrother, PhD, RPsych	Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Psychiatry
R. Geoffrion, MD, FRCSC	Associate Professor, UBC Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
M. Klein, MD	Professor Emeritus, UBC Department of Family Practice
P. Liao-Lussier, RN, MN	Manager, Healthy Start, Healthy Schools, Population Health Services, Interior Health Authority
S. Munro, PhD	Assistant Professor, UBC Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Erin O'Sullivan	Regional Perinatal Program Development and Evaluation Lead, Island Health Authority
V. Salmons, RN, BSN	Executive Lead, Perinatal Program, Northern Health Authority
K. Stoll, PhD	Postdoctoral Fellow, UBC School of Population and Public Health
M. Urbina-Beggs, RN, MN	Clinical Nurse Specialist, Population and Public Health, Fraser Health Authority
S. Vedam, RM, FACNM, MSN, Sci D	Associate Professor, Midwifery, UBC Department of Family Practice
G. Webster, PhD	Director, Women's Maternal and Early Childhood Health, BC Ministry of Health
Research Manager:	Sara Leckie, MSc 604-875-2314; toll-free at 1-855-871-BABY (2229) contact@smartmomcanada.ca

Funding

This study and the development of SmartMom™ are funded by the BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, the Alva Foundation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.