Development and evaluation of a multimedia CD-ROM for exercise during pregnancy and postpartum

Objective: To meet the need for an interactive product on exercise during pregnancy and postpartum, we developed and evaluated a personally tailored multimedia CD-ROM. Methods: Pregnant and postpartum women, who were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (PregXercise™ CD-ROM) or the control group (CD-ROM with neutral content), navigated through the CD-ROM for 1 h. Main outcomes were exercise self-efficacy and knowledge. Results: In analyses of covariance, compared with the control group, the experimental group had significant increases in self-efficacy and knowledge. Conclusion: The multimedia CD-ROM delivering information about exercise motivation, guidelines, and prescription was effective in improving exercise self-efficacy and knowledge. Practice implications: Our preliminary results illustrate that healthcare professionals and researchers may use interactive multimedia for improving exercise behavior and related outcomes with pregnant and postpartum women.