Table 3 Selected Participant Feedback at the six-week follow-up interview

Better understanding of what occurred during Labor & Delivery

“It was helpful to go through my birth story with MFM. I wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss anything and everything I remembered was in fact what happened.”

“It helped me to go through what was happening during the pregnancy and labor and delivery.”

“I understand it wasn’t something I did wrong.”

“When I was talking with Dr. XXX, she helped me realize how severe preeclampsia was and how the doctors were adjusting to my blood pressure. I understand that this was probably the cause of the preterm birth.”

Appreciation for additional Medical Expert (MFM) consultation

“Dr. XXX did a great job explaining everything and was really helpful in talking everything through with me.”

“This process of telling my birth story and creating a health plan was helpful. I was able to ask questions and Dr. XXX answered all of them, and then I was able to read about the details which was very helpful.”

Understanding the importance of letting her body recover and the significance of an extended interpregnancy interval

“I will exercise more and have less stress. When I got pregnant, I was affected by the government shut down. I had two jobs – I started work at 4am and I wouldn’t finish until 10pm. So definitely having less stress will help. Dr. XXX told me to take baby aspirin and vitamins for future pregnancies.”

“My husband is in Mexico, because we were affected by immigration issues. I haven’t started contraception yet, because I am not with my husband and we have not yet discussed future pregnancies. I was given pills when I was discharged from the hospital, but I haven’t started taking them yet. I thought I was interested in the IUD, but I wasn’t sure because my husband is away and if we wanted to have another kid, it just seemed like a lot of work to put in and take back out.”

“This intervention made me think harder about the contraception piece. At my OB’s office, I was recommended progesterone-only pills, but I had never picked it up from the pharmacy. Hearing the importance of it made me reconsider and rethink it. Having been counseled on it again helped my decision to take the pills.”

Success with sharing their handouts and using the handout as a keepsake

“I gave the packet to my OB and he really liked it. He was asking me questions and when I didn’t know the answer, I pulled out my packet and read the details to him. He made a photocopy of the packet and put it in my file.”

An unexpected outcome of the handout was how one mother distributed it to her family as a means to share her story, because it was difficult, tedious and frustrating for her to retell her birth story:

“I was able to share my packet with my immediate family. It was a hard story to tell so it was helpful to have the packet to share. I didn’t want to share the story on social media, so it was nice to have this packet to tell family and friends.”

“My brother, who lives in New York, bought me a calendar. It’s a baby’s first calendar and it has little spaces for birth story, baby’s weight, height and everything. I didn’t know answers to these off the top of my head, so I looked at my packet and all that information was in there. It is nice to have so that I can reflect on the birth story and remember what happened.”