title: A randomized, controlled trial to measure the frequency of use of a hospital telephone line for new parents.
abstract: New parents have fewer supports today than in previous decades due to factors such as short postpartum hospital stay, fragmentation of services, and long-distance families. This controlled trial evaluated the frequency of use of a 24-hour, in-hospital telephone line by 130 parents randomly invited to use the service and 130 who were not aware of this service. A special line with a separate extension was installed on the postpartum unit. Randomly arranged, sealed envelopes were given to 260 women at the time of discharge, containing a congratulations message or description of a new 24-hour telephone line for advice given by postpartum nurses. Of 53 calls requesting help, 36 were received on the special line and 17 on regular ward telephones; 28 percent of those invited to call back did so, and 13 percent of those without an invitation called on the regular extension, (P = 0.015). Recommendations for future program planning are based on the results of this study.
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Rush
authors.forename: T L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Kitch
mesh_terms: D001942:Breast Feeding; D005260:Female; D015277:Hotlines / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D015403:Nursing Evaluation Research; D009864:Ontario; D011181:Postnatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy