Currently submitted to: JMIR Formative Research
Date Submitted: Aug 6, 2026
Open Peer Review Period: Aug 6, 2026 - Oct 1, 2026
(currently open for review)
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
Access, Acceptability, Barriers and Preferences of a Digital Platform for Preventive Antenatal Care: A Cross-Sectional Study
ABSTRACT
Background:
Clinical guidelines recommend addressing modifiable risk factors throughout pregnancy; however, antenatal providers often face challenges delivering preventive care within routine appointments. A digital platform that allows pregnant people to receive preventive care alongside routine antenatal care may help address this gap.
Objective:
To assess pregnant people's access to, acceptability of, perceived barriers to, and preferences for a digital platform that provides preventive care alongside routine antenatal care, including exploratory analyses of priority population groups.
Methods:
Between May 2023 and May 2025, telephone and online surveys were conducted with pregnant people attending antenatal care in an Australian local health district. Data were analysed descriptively, with exploratory subgroup analyses for priority population groups.
Results:
A total of 4604 surveys were completed. Access to an internet-connected digital device was almost universal (99.6%), with similarly high access across priority population groups (98.7%-100.0%). Acceptability of receiving preventive care via a digital platform was high for health risk assessment (83.1%-87.7%), personalised information (75.2%-84.2%), and referral to support services (87.4%-89.2%). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants reported lower acceptability for completing assessments (73.9%-83.9%) and receiving information (66.9%-79.5%), whereas participants born in non-English-speaking countries reported higher acceptability for receiving personalised information (84.0%-92.0%) and referrals (87.2%-93.6%). Most participants reported no perceived barriers to platform use (66.2%); the most common barriers were time constraints (13.9%) and forgetting to complete tasks (11.0%). Preferences varied regarding assessment timing, frequency of use, communication methods, and information formats.
Conclusions:
A digital platform for preventive care appears highly accessible and acceptable to most pregnant people. Platform design should address identified barriers, accommodate varied user preferences, and be co-designed with priority population groups to support equitable implementation.
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