Pregnant Users’ Perceptions of the Birth Plan Interface in the “My Prenatal Care” App: Observational Validation Study

Abstract

Background Birth plans are meant to be a declaration of the expectations and preferences of pregnant woman regarding childbirth. The My Prenatal Care app engages pregnant women in an educational intervention for a healthy pregnancy. We hypothesized that users’ positive perception of an in-app birth plan is a relevant step for establishing direct communication between pregnant women and the health care team, based on an online report available on the app. Objective This study aimed to evaluate pregnant women’s perception about the communicability of birth-plan preparation using a mobile app. Methods This was an observational, exploratory, descriptive study. The methodology was user centered, and both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed. The tools of the communicability evaluation method were applied. Overall, 11 pregnant women evaluated their experience of using a birth-plan prototype interface. The evaluation was performed in a controlled environment, with authorized video recording. There were 8 task-oriented interactions proposed to evaluate interface communicability with users when using the Birth Plan menu. For evaluating perceptions and experiences, a survey with structured and open-ended questions in addition to the free expression of participants was conducted. The primary outcomes assessed were interface communicability and user’s perception of the Birth Plan prototype interface in the My Prenatal Care mobile app. Secondarily, we involved users in the prototyping phase of the interface to identify bottlenecks for making improvements in the app. Results Regarding users’ performance in accomplishing previously prepared tasks, we found that 10 of 11 (91%) women were capable of completing at least 6 of 8 (75%) tasks. A positive relationship was found between the number of communicability problems and the success of completing the tasks. An analysis of the records revealed three communicability breakdowns related to the data entry, save, and scrollbar functions. The participants freely expressed suggestions for improvements such as for the save function and the process of sharing the birth-plan form upon completion. Conclusions Users had a positive perception of the Birth Plan menu of the My Prenatal Care app. This user-centered validation enabled the identification of solutions for problems, resulting in improvements in the app.

Patient engagement practice within perinatal eHealth: A scoping review

“…Patients had more convenient communication experiences with their health professionals, timely information through feedback and self‐monitoring modalities, and could lead content and timing of communication (Dalton et al, 2018 ; Doherty et al, 2019 ; Herring et al, 2019 ; Holm et al, 2019 ). Medical and non‐medical issues were brought to the forefront of the maternity patients' minds through access to information and communication (Carrilho et al, 2019 ; de Mooij et al, 2018 ; Himes et al, 2017 ; Krishnamurti et al, 2017 ; O'Brien et al, 2013 ; Soltani et al, 2015 ). Parents had opportunities to be involved in the care of their infants in new ways through access to NICU automated updates through short message service (SMS) (Globus et al, 2016 ), and infant care and collaboration training using education and coaching applications (Banerjee et al, 2020 ; Platonos et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Patients had more convenient communication experiences with their health professionals, timely information through feedback and self-monitoring modalities, and could lead content and timing of communication (Dalton et al, 2018;Doherty et al, 2019;Herring et al, 2019;Holm et al, 2019). Medical and non-medical issues were brought to the forefront of the maternity patients' minds through access to information and communication (Carrilho et al, 2019;de Mooij et al, 2018;Himes et al, 2017;Krishnamurti et al, 2017;O'Brien et al, 2013;Soltani et al, 2015).…”

Effectiveness of mobile applications in pregnant women's adherence to prenatal consultations: randomized clinical trial

“…Thus, mobile applications for cell phones are useful tools capable of promoting adherence to prenatal care, in addition to a closer monitoring of pregnant women by nurses, in different contexts, such as hypertension, risk of premature birth and in encouraging breastfeeding (23)(24) . Thus, they are presented as a potential instrument in health promotion and disease prevention, with a complementary characteristic in health care, which is demonstrated through scientific evidence (25) .…”

How Could Self-Determination Theory Be Useful for Facing Health Innovation Challenges?

“…Planning birth is a part of prenatal care, and the use of innovation like an app interface could support flexibility in the user’s answers and any subsequent modifications made before delivery, this tool could empower women to be the protagonist during childbirth, promoting autonomy. The introduction of an in-app childbirth plan could be helpful also because it allows the access to health data and information on the smartphone or to transfer it from the app to local information systems (Moraes et al, 2019).…”