The Godmother Project: A Virtual Initiative to Support Pregnant and Postpartum Women in Brazil During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic increased maternal dis-tress and demand for social support and educational services, while restriction measures decreased the availability of these services. Project Description: The Godmother Project, a person-centered, WhatsApp-based support and health education initiative, was created after all in-person perinatal educational activities offered at 3 Brazilian hospitals were canceled in 2020. The project was developed in response to pregnant/postpartum women who called the hospitals with questions for health care professionals (HCPs). Health education nurses teamed up with staff from the communication department to design a project to (1) provide a direct communication channel between women and HCPs to an-swer health-related questions, (2) offer reliable virtual health ed-ucation material, (3) identify women in need of additional assessment/referrals, (4) offer each woman continuous support from a specific nurse educator (Godmother), and (5) offer a vir-tual forum where women going through similar experiences could interact. Project Development and Rollout: The project provides direct communication between WhatsApp groups of 25-30 pregnant/ postpartum women and a Godmother. It also offers access to a virtual library of educational materials prepared in response to women's needs/demands. The project, which began in July 2020 with 1 WhatsApp group of 5 women and 1 Godmother, currently has 305 groups, 6,942 active participants, and 4 Godmothers. Enrollments and WhatsApp groups continued to increase despite reestablishment of in-person educational activities in 2022. The vast majority of 232 participants surveyed in December 2021 were very satisfied with the project, the Godmothers, and the educational materials. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that WhatsApp groups of pregnant/postpartum women led by dedicated nurse educators can be an important tool to educate and support women during the perinatal period. This type of initiative may be especially im-portant in contexts of physical distancing requirements or situa-tions where social support is unavailable.