When I was eight weeks pregnant with my first child, I walked into my obstetrician's office for my initial prenatal visit. I vividly remember being exhausted and sucking on watermelon lollipops for the entire two-hour appointment in an effort to relieve my morning sickness. While in the office, a nurse handed me a thick folder stuffed with various pamphlets and fact sheets on everything from nutrition to genetic testing - but much of the information reviewed wasn't new to me. I'd already logged plenty of hours online reading about such topics.
So I was interested to read today about findings of a Penn State study showing that many other first-time moms also turn to "Dr. Google," as well as social media, to find answers during the early weeks of their pregnancy. Women also continued turning to the Internet for information after their doctor visit and found traditional literature lacking. From a release on the study, which appears in the Journal of Medical Internet Research:
Following the women’s first visit to the obstetrician, many of them still turned to the internet—using both search engines and social media—to find answers to their questions, because they felt the literature the doctor’s office gave them was insufficient.
...
Many of the participants found the pamphlets and flyers that their doctors gave them, as well as the once-popular book What to Expect When You’re Expecting, outdated and preferred receiving information in different formats.
They would rather watch videos and use social media and pregnancy-tracking apps and websites.
“This research is important because we don’t have a very good handle on what tools pregnant women are using and how they engage with technology,” says [Jennifer Kraschnewski, MD]. “We have found that there is a real disconnect between what we’re providing in the office and what the patient wants.”
Noting the prevalence of misinformation online, Kraschnewski added, "We need to find sound resources on the Internet or develop our own sources" [to refer patients to].
Previously: Text message reminders shown effective in boosting flu shot rates among pregnant women and Examining the effectiveness of text4baby service
Photo by Adam Selwood
