Use of the Internet as a source of health information amongst participants of antenatal classes

Aim. To describe the pattern of use of the Internet as a source of health information by participants of antenatal classes. Background. There is a lack of information about the frequency of Internet use amongst expectant mothers and fathers who attend antenatal classes. Design. A cross-sectional descriptive study. Methods. Women (n = 114) and men (n = 21) were recruited. Data were collected anonymously using a self-administered questionnaire, containing questions about Internet use, the frequency of that use, sources of information about pregnancy, preference over other non-Internet sources, positive and negative feelings generated due to the use of the Internet and willingness to receive instructions on Internet use. Results. The average age of participants was 31 4 (SD 6 1) and their stage of pregnancy ranged from 24-38 weeks. 83 5% were expecting their first child. 93 5% reported that they used the Internet on a regular basis and no significant difference was found between men and women. Amongst Internet users, 97 7% sought, at some point, information on pregnancy on the Internet and 26 9% had done so in the last 24 hours. The Internet was the most popular source of information on pregnancy topics (18 5% of women and 25 8% of men used it as their primary source of information) after a physician. Commercial websites were more frequently used by people looking for information on pregnancy than sites maintained by not-for-profit organisations or professional unions. Conclusions. The Internet is widely used as a source of information amongst participants of antenatal classes, both male and female. Approximately 95% have used it at some point to find information during pregnancy, but the majority (approximately 90%) had no knowledge of websites run by not-for-profit organisations and preferred commercial websites. Relevance to clinical practice. Instead of disregarding the use of the Internet as a source of information during pregnancy, midwives should keep up to date and give their patients links to high-quality sites.