JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Information behavior describes all human behavior in relation to information. Individuals experiencing disruption or stigma often use online tools and spaces to meet associated information needs. One such context is pregnancy loss, which while impactful and common, has been absent from much of feminist and reproductive health as well as information behavior scholarship. By understanding information behavior after pregnancy loss and accounting for it in designing online information spaces, we can take a meaningful step towards countering the stigma and silence that many who experience such loss endure, facilitate coping, and make space for diverse pregnancy narratives in our society.

Objective:

This study’s objective is to provide a characterization of online information behavior after pregnancy loss.

Methods:

We examine online information behavior after pregnancy loss through in-depth interviews with individuals residing in the United States.

Results:

We identify three themes in relation to participants’ information behavior in online spaces: needed information types, information-related concerns, and information outcomes. We draw from information behavior frameworks to interpret the processes and concerns described by participants as they moved from recognizing information needs to searching for information to using information and experiencing outcomes. Specifically, we align these themes with information use concepts from the information behavior literature: information search, knowledge construction, information production, information application, and information effects. Participants’ main concerns centered around being able to easily find information (i.e., searchability), particularly on topics that had already been covered (i.e., permanence), and once found, to assess the information for its relevance, helpfulness, and credibility (i.e., assessability). We suggest qualities for designs that support health information behavior: assessability, permanence, and searchability.

Conclusions:

We examined online information behavior in the context of pregnancy loss, an important yet silenced reproductive health experience. Due to the prevalence of information seeking during pregnancy, we advocate that generic pregnancy-related information spaces should address needs related to pregnancy loss that we identify, in addition to spaces dedicated to pregnancy loss. Such a shift could not only support those who use these spaces to manage pregnancies but then experience a loss, but also help combat the silence and stigma associated with loss and the linear and normative narrative by which pregnancies are often represented.