Smartphone-based prenatal education for parents with preterm birth risk factors

Objective: To develop an educational mobile application (app) for expectant parents diagnosed with risk factors for premature birth. Methods: Parent and medical advisory panels delineated the vision for the app. The app helps prepare for preterm birth. For pilot testing, obstetricians offered the app between 18-22 weeks gestational age to English speaking parents with risk factors for preterm birth. After 4 weeks of use, each participant completed a questionnaire. The software tracked topics accessed and duration of use. Results: For pilot testing, 31 participants were recruited and 28 completed the questionnaire. After app utilization, participants reported heightened awareness of preterm birth (93%), more discussion of pregnancy or prematurity issues with partner (86%), increased questions at clinic visits (43%), and increased anxiety (21%). Participants reported receiving more prematurity information from the app than from their healthcare providers. The 15 participants for whom tracking data was available accessed the app for an average of 8 h. Conclusion: Parents with increased risk for preterm birth may benefit from this mobile app educational program. Practice implications: If the pregnancy results in preterm birth hospitalization, parents would have built a foundation of knowledge to make informed medical care choices. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.