JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

There have been few studies on remote monitoring (RM) in midwifery. These studies were mostly performed several decades ago, and no recent studies have investigated the perceptions to or experiences of new technologies. The Pregnancy Remote Monitoring (PREMOM) study, which started in January 2015 in Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg (Genk, Belgium), enrolled pregnant women at increased risk of developing gestational hypertensive disorders (GHD). Women enrolled in PREMOM underwent conventional prenatal follow-up, which was complemented with RM.

Objective:

We sought to investigate the perceptions and experiences of mothers, midwives, and obstetricians to the RM approach used in the PREMOM study.

Methods:

We developed specific questionnaires for the mothers, midwives, and obstetricians. The questionnaires comprised five domains: ‘prior knowledge and experience of RM’, ‘reactions to abnormal values’, ‘privacy’, ‘quality and patient safety’, and ‘financial aspects’. The caregivers were also questioned about which issues they consider important when implementing RM. A five-point Likert scale was used to provide objective scores.

Results:

Ninety-one participants completed the questionnaires, including 47/92 (51.08%) mothers, 35/52 (67.30%) midwives, and 9/14 (64.29%) obstetricians. The mothers, midwives, and obstetricians reported positive experiences and perceptions to RM. Overall, 29/35 (82.85%) midwives and 7/9 (77.78%) obstetricians had no or little prior experience with this technology. After working for 1 year with RM, 28/35 (80.00%) midwives and 6/9 (66.67%) obstetricians felt that this technology is an important component in the prenatal monitoring of high-risk pregnancies and that it had a positive contribution to the care of pregnant women. They support a further roll-out of RM in Belgium, but caregivers need additional training on RM devices and the pathological aspects of GHD. Nearly three-quarters of the mothers who participated in the PREMOM study (34/47, 72.34%) did not report any problems with taking the measurements at the required times. Almost half of the mothers (19/47, 40.43%) wanted to be contacted within 3–12 hours after abnormal values, preferably by telephone. Nearly all of the mothers (41/47, 87.24%) did not have any problems with regularly sharing their health data with their gynaecologist. Finally, most of the mothers (39/47, 82.97%) reported that RM gave them a feeling of security throughout their pregnancy.

Conclusions:

Although the majority of midwives and obstetricians had no or very little experience with RM before enrolling in the PREMOM study after one year, they reported that RM is an important component in the follow-up of high-risk pregnancies and would recommend it to their colleagues and pregnant patients.