The role of social media in childbirth€¦ · The role of social media in childbirth choices potential Amy Romano, MSN, CNM ... • anxiety - “cyberchondriac ... • In Listening

www.childbirthconnection.org

The role of social media in childbirth

choices

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Amy Romano, MSN, CNMProject Director, Transforming Maternity Care Partnership

Childbirth Connection

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http://www.childbirthconnection.org



Better patient engagement in decision-making is the cornerstone of every quality care strategy

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“Unless the underlying relationships between clinicians and patients are fundamentally transformed, professional interventions do not empower patients.”

- ePatient White Paper

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“Our acquaintances — not our friends — are our greatest source of new ideas and information. The Internet lets us exploit the power of these kinds of distant connections with marvelous efficiency.”

- Malcolm Gladwell

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www.childbirthconnection.org5













Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media, 5/5/10

Social Media...• are disseminated through social interaction

• transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many)

• support the democratization of knowledge and information

• transform people from content consumers into content producers

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_media


Altruism in Online Social Networks

• “Taking someone on as a project”

• Occurs even with “weak affiliations”

• a form of investment?

• Paying it forward vs. Getting justice

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“Need for cognition drives the empowered patient...Traditional patients can be elevated into this group by intellectual arguments and social influence.”

-Schroeder (2010)

Source: Schroeder, C. & Burroughs, J. (2010) Understanding what motivates the empowered patient, HealthCentral, accessed at http://www.healthcentral.com/about/the-empowered-patient/

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Downsides?

• information overload

• anxiety - “cyberchondriac”

• wrong information leading to harm

• inability to make sense of information or apply it to own circumstances - wrong conclusions

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Childbearing Women’s Internet Use• 19% of all Americans online look for pregnancy and birth information.

• Unlike other health conditions, likelihood of searching for pregnancy information does not vary significantly by education level.

• In Listening to Mothers 11 (2006), 16% of women pregnant with their first baby rated the internet as the most important source of information.

• Significant majorities of women reported going online 10 times or more during pregnancy to

• participate in an online support group (65%)

• participate in an online discussion (80%)

• research a pregnancy-related product (72%)

• seek general information (88%)

• Women also reported going online at least once to:

• seek a second opinion (67%)

• find information about prescribed treatments (59%)

• learn about a specific pregnancy-related condition (94%)

• purchase pregnancy-related products (80%)

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Mobile

• Motherhood is a trigger for adopting a mobile device.

• Pregnancy is #1 health-related search on Yahoo from mobile devices.

• #7 from regular computers

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*and researchers?

The Internet As Source of Qualitative Data for

Women*

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Thirty-four contributions

• What physiologic 2nd stage looks/feels/sounds like

• What conventional management looks/feels like

• Limitations of "birth plans" to overcome standard of care

• Physiologic second stage in unexpected circumstances

• Second stage in home births

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The Internet as Rapid Dissemination Tool

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A Woman’s Guide to VBAC: Navigating the NIH Consensus Recommendations

• Pros and Cons of Planned VBAC and RCS

• VBAC Success Rates and Prediction Models

• Putting Uterine Rupture into Perspective

• Are You an “Ideal” Candidate for VBAC? What Are Your Choices If Not?

• The “Immediately Available” Standard: Where It Came from, What It Means, and How to Move Forward with New Evidence and Guidelines

• What We Don’t Know: Critical Gaps in Evidence and How to Make Informed Choices In Spite of Them

• Discussing Your Options with Your Care Provider

• Legal Rights and Protections for VBAC: Issues from the NIH Consensus Conference

• Take Action!

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The Internet As Second Opinion

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"I’m glad i stumbled upon this website. I’m convinced now I need to make an appointment with a general surgeon and plead my case..."

“I have been to the doctors/urgent care at least 4 times in the last year for pain, and heavy bleeding. They have done pelvic exams, and ultra sounds inside and out and cant find anything. Not one of them mentioned endometriosis.”

“The doctor’s say they are puzzled but just leave me feeling it’s all in my head...I am so glad I found this information. I will be armed with it at my next doctor’s appointment!”

“It’s been 4 months of GP visits, and gyno visits, and 2 ER visits. it’s been 3 CTs, a pelvic ultrasound, and a colonoscopy. The best diagnosis anyone’s managed is “irritable bowel syndrome”, even though I keep insisting that my pain is not affected by food or bowel movements.”

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“Let patients help” - e-Patient Dave

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Seven Preliminary Conclusions from the e-Patient Movement

• e-Patients have become valuable health-care resources, and providers should recognize them as such.

• The art of ‘‘empowering’’ patients is trickier than we had thought.

• We have underestimated patients’ ability to provide useful online resources.

• We have overestimated the hazards of imperfect online health information.

• Whenever possible, health care should take place on the patient’s ‘‘turf.’’

• Clinicians can no longer go it alone.

• The most effective way to improve health care is to make it more collaborative.White paper accessible at e-patients.net.

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Challenges

• Leveraging social technology to get the right information to the right woman at the right time

• Giving her tools to make sense of what she finds on her own, and a framework for incorporating it into her decision-making

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Documents

The role of social media in childbirth€¦ · The role of social media in childbirth choices potential Amy Romano, MSN, CNM ... • anxiety - “cyberchondriac ... • In Listening