Social media messaging in pregnancy: comparing content of Text4baby to content of free smart phone applications of pregnancy

Abstract

To improve content without increasing text message number, Text4baby could replace messages on recruitment with messages regarding normal pregnancy symptoms, fetal development and postpartum contraception.

Current Status of Apps in Smartphone of Obstetrics & Gynecology, an Observational Study

“…There were four apps on guidelines, the RCOG guideline app was paid while other three were free apps. In the past points have been made about contraception, use of social media & apps on Pregnancy [2][3][4][5], but present study revealed much wider applications of the apps in the field of Obstetrics & Gynecology. Limitation of the study is the fact that it has not looked at all the operating system app stores & hence has info on the two most utilized app stores.…”

For You and Your Baby (4YYB): Adapting the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Text4Baby Program for Saudi Arabia

“…Only 7of these articles [16,18,20,26-30] represented actual studies; the others described the program [3,4,17,31] or described a study that was going to take place [19,23]. Of the 7 that described actual studies, 2 focused on the American military population [16,28], 1 was a pilot study [18], 2 focused on the health literacy of Text4Baby participants [26,27], and 2 focused on the content of the messages [20,29]. …”

“…Lewkowitz and colleagues produced first a conference abstract and then a paper comparing the content of Text4Baby messages with messages from other pregnancy apps, such as the one sponsored by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and March of Dimes [20,29]. Their analysis suggested that Text4Baby could improve by decreasing the number of messages about obtaining medical care and increasing the number of messages about healthy eating, normal weight gain, exercise, and nutrition without increasing the overall number of messages [20].…”

“…This system was initially developed and piloted in 2011 and 2012 [17-19]. The main themes included in the messages are information about healthy weight, nutrition, and exercise; information about depression and anxiety; encouragement and information for seeking care; breastfeeding information; roles of partners in pregnancy; the celebration of pregnancy; prevention strategies including vaccinations, contraception, and sudden infant death syndrome prevention; and information on avoidance of toxic exposures [20]. …”

“…However, Text4Baby has also been criticized for redundant messages [20] and for lacking an evidence base [4]. The next section will review the current evidence regarding the public health implications of the Text4Baby program.…”