JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Digital health is increasingly used to meet the needs of perinatal people, with estimates of pregnancy-related internet use ranging from 90-97% of pregnant people. As digital health takes on greater importance during the perinatal period, it is essential that providers and developers of digital health content understand why perinatal people are using these resources and the features that enhance their experience. Yet there remain gaps in understanding of the content that is most helpful and how the platforms are navigated. Learning directly from perinatal people about their needs will help to ensure alignment between perinatal needs and available content.

Objective:

This formative study aims to identify the reasons perinatal people use digital health resources, the features on the digital health platforms that are of greatest importance to them, and how these differ by perinatal stage (i.e., pregnancy versus postpartum), and by mental health conditions, parity, and demographics (race/ethnicity).

Methods:

This mixed-methods study used interviews, surveys, and secondary data on demographic, health and pregnancy characteristics to identify the digital health needs and preferences of pregnant and postpartum people who used the Maven digital health platform in the United States during their pregnancy and/or postpartum period. Interviews informed the content of surveys and provided additional insights and examples for interpreting the survey results. Surveys were used to collect data from a sample of Maven users, and results were linked to the secondary data set. Interviews were thematically analysed and survey data were analysed with descriptive statistics and stratified by parity, race, and mental health.

Results:

13 people were interviewed (including 4 pilot interviews), and a total of 147 pregnancy respondents and 110 postpartum respondents completed the survey and had linkable secondary data. Top reasons for using digital health resources during pregnancy were 1) to know what is normal or typical during pregnancy, 2) to have access to a health care provider when needed, and 3) to know how the baby is developing. Top reasons for use during postpartum were 1) to help with feeding breastmilk, 2) to know what is normal baby development, and 3) to help with baby’s health issues. Top platform features during pregnancy and postpartum were 1) credible and trustworthy information and providers, 2) non-judgmental information/support, and 3) free to the user. In general, more reasons for using digital resources were identified as extremely important during pregnancy compared to postpartum. Results had minor variations across strata.

Conclusions:

This formative research found minor differences in digital resource needs and preferences across user characteristics among perinatal people in the US. Future work should examine if there are variations of interests within topics by user characteristics, which may provide additional opportunities to better meet user needs.