Nutritional Counseling for pregnant women using the WhatsApp® application during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemics

Abstract

Introduction: The multidisciplinary approach during the gestational period includes food and nutritional education actions, bearing in mind that adequate nutritional status and a healthy diet are fundamental for the effectiveness of the immune system and the prevention of chronic and infectious diseases. Objective: To report the authors' experience in nutritional counseling for a group of pregnant women, through the WhatsApp® application. Methodology: This is a descriptive, qualitative study of the experience report type on the action of university extension developed by the project "Nutritional Counseling of Pregnant Women in Times of Covid-19", from June to December 2020. Results: Twenty-eight women in different periods of pregnancy participated. Twenty-four group sessions were carried out, lasting two hours a week. The experience was evaluated from the perspective of Nutrition students, professors and pregnant women who participated in the project, especially with regard to the opportunity to recognize the limits, such as the potential and challenges of nutritional counseling on the online experience of groups. Conclusions: Interaction with pregnant women enabled dialogue with the project team and directed the methodological trajectory, making pregnant women active agents of care practice.