Relationship Education during Pregnancy and Postpartum: In-Person versus Virtual Delivery of MotherWise

Ample research attests to the effectiveness of in-person relationship education, including education delivered to women who are pregnant or have just had a child. Relationship education delivered virtually may also be effective and hold advantages of accessibility and affordability. Few studies have compared outcomes for the same program delivered virtually and in-person, or prior to versus during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study analyzed enrollment characteristics, satisfaction with the program, and pre-post changes in communication behaviors, relationship satisfaction, and psychological distress for women who participated in the evidence-based MotherWise program in-person and prior to the COVID-19 pandemic versus those who participated virtually after the pandemic began. The virtual and in-person programs enrolled demographically similar participants who received roughly the same amount of content. Perceptions of the program were positive across modalities and participants in both modalities demonstrated significantly reduced psychological distress from before to after the program. In-person participants reported finding the program more helpful than virtual participants on only one indicator, their ability to handle relationship conflict. Thus, while the current study does not establish equivalency across treatment modalities in efficacy, it does demonstrate the feasibility of transitioning relationship education for individuals from an in-person to a virtual setting.