Background Researchers conducting studies involving pregnant women often find recruitment challenging. The COVID-19 pandemic added further complexity to studies requiring face-to-face participation.

Aim To demonstrate how to maintain the principles of practice development (PD) when a study must switch from face-to-face to remote methods of collecting data.

Discussion The number of participants in the authors’ study increased when they moved from face-to-face to telephone engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. They continued using PD principles when they changed method and the quality of the data they collected remained constant, even once lockdown restrictions were in place.

Conclusion PD principles can offer ways for nurse researchers to engage, collaborate with and reflect with people for research projects, including when constraints compete with participation. They can also assist researchers in optimising and maintaining recruitment and data collection when face-to-face research methods are impossible.

Implications for practice The telephone can be a valuable alternative medium for recruiting participants and collecting data when face-to-face methods are impossible to use. PD principles can be maintained and response rates and participation may even be greater when using it.