Digital health's influence on the association between birth preference and vaginal birth.

BACKGROUND: Women's preferred mode of birth during pregnancy is predictive of their actual mode of birth. Digital prenatal care services are a promising method for educating women on mode of birth to reduce elective cesareans. This study aimed to evaluate the influence of digital health on the association between birth preference and mode of birth. METHODS: Data come from 5409 pregnant women enrolled in a digital platform for women's and family health. Multi-trajectory modeling identified trajectories of digital health usage throughout pregnancy. Adjusted logistic regression models tested associations between birth preferences and mode of birth. The modifying effect of digital health usage on the association between birth preference and mode of birth was assessed on the multiplicative scale. RESULTS: Four distinct trajectories of digital service usage were identified and labeled as: (1) baseline users (52%): the reference group; (2) just-in timers (16%): high usage during the third trimester; (3) learners (26%): high educational resource usage (e.g., articles and classes) throughout pregnancy; and (4) super users (6%): high usage of both education and care resources throughout pregnancy. Overall, preferred mode of birth at enrollment was predictive of actual mode of birth; however, digital health usage moderated this association, whereby super users and learners who preferred a cesarean at enrollment were more likely to deliver vaginally, compared to baseline users who preferred a cesarean. CONCLUSION: For the increasing proportion of women considering an elective cesarean, education through a prenatal digital health platform may help to encourage vaginal birth and reduce cesarean births.

Improving the Management of Maternal Mental Health with Digital Health Care.

Objectives: Digital health solutions have the potential to improve maternal mental health care. The objective of this study is to determine if utilization of a digital health platform, Maven, is associated with improved management of mental health among peripartum people with a history of mental health disorders and determine which components of utilization associate with maternal mental health outcomes. Methods: Participants in this retrospective cohort analysis (n = 1561) accessed Maven as an employer-sponsored health benefit and enrolled during their pregnancy and delivered from January 2020 through September 2022. Participants completed health surveys at enrollment, including history of a mood disorder, and post-delivery. Maven includes online articles, asynchronous and synchronous virtual classes, app-based mental health screenings, access to allied health professional and maternity care providers via messaging and telehealth appointments. Quantile g-computation was used to estimate the effects of multi-utilization exposures on reports of postpartum depression (PPD) and management of mental health. Results: Multi-utilization exposure mixture models demonstrated that increasing use of digital resources by one quartile is associated with an increased odds of reporting that Maven helped users manage their mental health (aOR: 12.58 [95% CI: 6.74, 23.48]) and was not associated with self-reported incidence of PPD (aOR: 1.30 [95% CI: 0.52, 3.27]). Care advocate appointments, provider messages, and article reads were positively associated with improved mental health management. Conclusions: Digital health platforms, such as Maven, may play an important role in managing maternal mental health conditions among pregnant and postpartum people at high risk for PPD.

Digital Health Needs and Preferences During Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period: Mixed Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: Digital health is increasingly used to meet the needs of perinatal people, with estimates of pregnancy-related internet use ranging from 90% to 97% of pregnant people. As digital health takes on greater importance during the perinatal period, it is essential that providers and developers of digital health content understand why perinatal people use these resources and the features that enhance their experience. However, gaps remain in understanding the content that is most helpful and how the platforms are navigated. Learning directly from perinatal people about their needs will help ensure alignment between perinatal needs and available content. OBJECTIVE: This formative study aims to identify the reasons why perinatal people use digital health resources; the features of the digital health platforms that are of greatest importance to them; and how these differ by perinatal stage (pregnancy vs post partum), mental health conditions, parity, and demographics (race and ethnicity). METHODS: This mixed methods study used interviews; surveys; and secondary data on demographic, health, and pregnancy characteristics to identify the digital health needs and preferences of pregnant and postpartum people who used the Maven digital health platform in the United States during their pregnancy or postpartum period. The interviews informed the content of the surveys and provided additional insights and examples for interpreting the survey results. The surveys were used to collect data from a sample of Maven users, and the results were linked to the secondary data set. The interviews were thematically analyzed, and survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and stratified by parity, race, and mental health status. RESULTS: Overall, 13 people were interviewed (including n=4, 31% pilot interviews), and 147 pregnancy and 110 postpartum survey respondents completed the surveys and had linkable secondary data. Top reasons for using digital health resources during pregnancy were to (1) know what is normal or typical during pregnancy, (2) have access to a health care provider when needed, and (3) know how the baby is developing. Top reasons for postpartum use were to (1) help with breastfeeding, (2) know what normal baby development is, and (3) help with the baby's health issues. Top platform features during pregnancy and the postpartum period were (1) credible and trustworthy information and providers, (2) nonjudgmental information and support, and (3) no cost to the user. In general, more reasons for using digital resources were identified as extremely important during pregnancy compared with post partum. The results showed minor variations across strata. CONCLUSIONS: This formative research found minor differences in digital resource needs and preferences across user characteristics among perinatal people in the United States. Future work should examine whether there are variations in interests within topics by user characteristics, which may provide additional opportunities to better meet user needs.

Demographic and Support Interest Differences Among Nonbirthing Parents Using a Digital Health Platform With Parenthood-Related Anxiety: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The transition to parenthood is a period of major stressors and increased risk of anxiety for all parents. Though rates of perinatal anxiety are similar among women (4%-25%) and men (3%-25%), perinatal anxiety research on nonbirthing partners remains limited. Objective: We aimed to examine whether demographic characteristics or digital perinatal support preferences differed among nonbirthing partners with compared to without self-reported high parenthood-related anxiety. Methods: In this large cross-sectional study of nonbirthing partners using a digital perinatal health platform during their partner's pregnancy, users reported their parenthood-related anxiety through a 5-item Likert scale in response to the prompt "On a scale of 1=None to 5=Extremely, how anxious are you feeling about parenthood?" High parenthood-related anxiety was defined as reporting being very or extremely anxious about parenthood. During the onboarding survey, in response to the question "Which areas are you most interested in receiving support in?" users selected as many support interests as they desired from a list of options. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to compare demographic characteristics and support interests of nonbirthing partners with low versus high parenthood anxiety. Logistic regression models estimated the odds ratios (ORs), with 95% CIs, of high parenthood-related anxiety with each user characteristic or digital support interest. Results: Among 2756 nonbirthing partners enrolled in the digital platform during their partner's pregnancy, 2483 (90.1%) were men, 1668 (71.9%) were first-time parents, 1159 (42.1%) were non-Hispanic White, and 1652 (50.9%) endorsed an annual household income of >US $100,000. Overall, 2505 (91.9%) reported some amount of parenthood-related anxiety, and 437 (15.9%) had high parenthood-related anxiety. High parenthood-related anxiety was more common among non-White nonbirthing partners: compared to those who identified as non-Hispanic White, those who identified as Asian, Black, or Hispanic had 2.39 (95% CI 1.85-3.08), 2.01 (95% CI 1.20-3.23), and 1.68 (95% CI 1.15-2.41) times the odds of high parenthood-related anxiety, respectively. Lower household income was associated with increased odds of reporting high parenthood anxiety, with the greatest effect among those with annual incomes of US $100,000 (OR 2.13, 95% CI 1.32-3.34). In general, nonbirthing partners were interested in receiving digital support during their partner's pregnancy, but those with high parenthood-related anxiety were more likely to desire digital support for all support interests compared to those without high parenthood anxiety. Those with high parenthood-related anxiety had more than 2 times higher odds of requesting digital education about their emotional health compared to those without high parenthood-related anxiety (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.67-2.55). Conclusions: These findings demonstrate the need for perinatal anxiety-related support for all nonbirthing partners and identify nonbirthing partners' demographic characteristics that increase the odds of endorsing high parenthood-related anxiety. Additionally, these findings suggest that most nonbirthing partners using a digital health platform with high parenthood-related anxiety desire to receive perinatal mental health support.

Association between nonbirthing parent's perinatal education and mental health support desires and perinatal anxiety among either parent.

BACKGROUND: Although perinatal anxiety is common in birthing and nonbirthing parents, little is known about the mental health or educational needs of nonbirthing parents during the perinatal period and whether perinatal anxiety in the birthing parent is associated with nonbirthing parent educational preferences. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the desired digital perinatal educational preferences of nonbirthing parents and whether these preferences differed by (1) endorsement of high parenthood-related anxiety in the nonbirthing partner and (2) mental health of the birthing parent (including both identified mental health conditions and presence of pregnancy-related anxiety). STUDY DESIGN: In this cross-sectional study, nonbirthing and birthing parents using Maven, a digital perinatal health platform, selected the areas in which they wanted education or support from a list of options. In addition, the participants reported their experience of parenthood or pregnancy-related anxiety through a 5-item Likert scale in response to the prompt, "On a scale of 1 (not at all) to 5 (extremely), how anxious are you feeling about parenthood or pregnancy?" High parenthood or pregnancy-related anxiety was defined as being very (scale: 4) or extremely (scale: 5) anxious. Furthermore, birthing parents reported whether they had a current or previous mood disorder, but this information was not reported by nonbirthing parents. Survey responses for birthing and nonbirthing parents were linked through the digital platform. Descriptive analyses were used to assess nonbirthing parent demographics and perinatal support interests, stratified by high parenthood-related anxiety, high pregnancy-related anxiety in their partner, and perinatal mood disorders or high pregnancy-related anxiety in their partner. RESULTS: Among 382 nonbirthing parents, most (85.6%) desired to receive digital support during their partner's pregnancy: the most commonly endorsed support interests were infant care (327 [85.6%]) and understanding their partner's emotional (313 [81.9%]) or physical (294 [77.0%]) experience during pregnancy. Overall, 355 nonbirthing parents (93.9%) endorsed any parenthood-related anxiety, and 63 nonbirthing parents (16.5%) were categorized as having high parenthood-related anxiety. Those with high parenthood-related anxiety were more likely to desire digital support for each topic. Among birthing parents, 124 (32.4%) had a mental health condition, and 45 (11.8%) had high pregnancy-related anxiety. When nonbirthing parents were stratified by the presence of their partner having a mental health condition or high pregnancy-related anxiety alone, no difference in desired perinatal education was identified. Although nonbirthing parents had higher rates of high parenthood-related anxiety if the birthing parent reported high pregnancy anxiety (17 [27.0%] vs 28 [8.8%]; P<.001), no difference was found with other conditions within the mental health composite. CONCLUSION: In this cross-sectional study, many nonbirthing parents who engaged with a perinatal digital platform desired education on their or their partner's emotional health during the perinatal period, and most endorsed parenthood-related anxiety. Our findings suggest that perinatal mental health support is needed for nearly all parents and that nonbirthing parents who use digital health platforms are amenable to receiving comprehensive perinatal education via these platforms.

Association Between the Use of a Digital Health Platform During Pregnancy and Helping Users Avoid Emergency and In-Person Care: Retrospective Observational Study.

BACKGROUND: Almost one-third of pregnant people visit the emergency room during pregnancy. Although some emergency care is necessary, gaps in patient education and inaccessibility of preventive services have been identified as key reasons for high-cost, low-value care in pregnancy. Digital platforms present a promising solution for providing resources to supplement routine prenatal care, thereby reducing the use of low-value in-person services. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the relationship between the use of Maven and in-person care avoidance (emergency room or office visits) during pregnancy. Maven is a digital prenatal health platform that supplements routine prenatal care. Maven offers educational content (articles, videos, and classes), care coordination (through a care advocate), and provider services (web-based appointments and communication with providers) designed to complement prenatal care. Specifically, the aims of this study were to examine whether the use of Maven is associated with in-person care avoidance overall and whether improvements in pregnancy-related knowledge facilitate in-person care avoidance. To assess aim 2, we tested if the use of Maven is associated with improvements in self-reported understanding of warning signs and medically accurate information and if self-reported understanding of medically accurate information and warning signs is associated with in-person care avoidance in a population of Maven users. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we used adjusted logistic regression to examine the relationship between digital platform use, avoidance of in-person care, and the platform's influence on pregnancy-related knowledge (learning medically accurate information and recognizing warning signs). Demographics, medical history, and in-person care avoidance were self-reported. RESULTS: Of the 5263 users, 280 (5.32%) reported that Maven helped them avoid in-person care during pregnancy. More users who reported avoiding in-person care also reported that the digital platform helped them understand warning signs (231/280, 82.5%) and learned medically accurate information (185/280, 66.1%). In the adjusted models, all modes of digital service use (assessed as quartiles) were associated with avoiding in-person care in a dose-response manner (eg, web-based provider appointments: Q2 adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.57, 95% CI 1.00-2.41; Q3 aOR 2.53, 95% CI 1.72-3.72; Q4 aOR 5.26, 95% CI 3.76-7.42). Users were more likely to avoid in-person care if they reported that Maven helped them recognize warning signs (aOR 3.55, 95% CI 2.60-4.94) or learn medically accurate information (aOR 2.05, 95% CI 1.59-2.67). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that digital platforms can be effective in helping patients to avoid in-person care. The educational pathway suggests that digital platforms can be particularly effective in helping patients recognize warning signs and learn medically accurate information, which may help them avoid in-person care by recognizing when in-person care is medically appropriate. Future work is needed to assess other pathways through which digital resources can support pregnant people and improve perinatal care use.

Utilization of digital prenatal services and management of depression and anxiety during pregnancy: A retrospective observational study.

Introduction: We examined how utilization of Maven, a digital healthcare platform that provides virtual prenatal services, is associated with improvements in perceived management of anxiety and depression during pregnancy, and how medical knowledge and support may influence this association. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study we used adjusted logistic regression to examine the relationship between digital platform use in pregnancy and perceived mental health management, and how perceived management of mental health is affected by user-reported improvements in medical knowledge and feeling supported by the platform. Effects were evaluated separately among users with and without a mental health condition. Demographics, medical history, and mental health management were self-reported. Results: Of 5,659 users, 705 (12.5%) reported that Maven helped them manage anxiety and/or depression in the prenatal period. In adjusted models, users who read more articles, sent more messages to care advocates, or had more appointments with providers were more likely to report improved management of mental health in a dose-response manner (e.g., articles read: Q2 aOR 1.31 (95% CI 1.01-1.70), Q3 aOR 1.68 (95% CI 1.30-2.17), Q4 1.99 (95% CI 1.54-2.59)). Improvements in medical knowledge and high perceived support were both associated with better perceived mental health management. Results were similar in users with and without a mental health condition. Discussion: These results suggest that access to a diverse set of digital resources provides multiple pathways to managing depression and anxiety during pregnancy for those with and without a diagnosed mental health condition.

Understanding social needs in pregnancy: Prospective validation of a digital short-form screening tool and patient survey.

BACKGROUND: Social determinants of health significantly affect health outcomes, yet are infrequently addressed in prenatal care. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to improve the efficiency and experience of addressing social needs in pregnancy through: (1) testing a digital short-form screening tool; and (2) characterizing pregnant people's preferences for social needs screening and management. STUDY DESIGN: We developed a digital short-form social determinants of health screening tool from PRAPARE (Protocol for Responding to and Assessing Patients' Assets, Risks, and Experiences), and a survey to query patients' preferences for addressing social needs. Instruments were administered online to peripartum participants, with equal representation of patients with public and private insurance. We calculated the sensitivity and specificity of the short-form tool vs PRAPARE. Quantitative responses were characterized using descriptive statistics. Free-text responses were analyzed with matrix and thematic coding. Survey data were analyzed by subgroups of historically marginalized populations. RESULTS: A total of 215 people completed the survey. Participants were predominantly White (167; 77.7%) and multiparous (145; 67.4%). Unmet social needs were prevalent with both the short-form tool (77.7%) and PRAPARE (96.7%). The sensitivity (79.3%) and specificity (71.4%) of the short-form screener were high for detecting any social need. Most participants believed that it was important for their pregnancy care team to know their social needs (material: 173, 80.5%; support: 200, 93.0%), and over half felt comfortable sharing their needs through in-person or digital modalities if assistance was or was not available (material: 117, 54.4%; support: 122, 56.7%). Free-text themes reflected considerations for integrating social needs in routine prenatal care. Acceptability of addressing social needs in pregnancy was high among all groups. CONCLUSION: A digital short-form social determinants of health screening tool performs well when compared with the gold standard. Pregnant people accept social needs as a part of routine pregnancy care. Future work is needed to operationalize efficient, effective, patient-centered approaches to addressing social needs in pregnancy.

Feasibility of leveraging menstrual cycle tracking apps for preconception research recruitment.

Background: Mobile applications (apps) present a new opportunity to study menstrual cycles and time to pregnancy. Understanding the characteristics of cycle tracking app users is important to evaluate the feasibility of recruiting participants for preconception research. Methods: Users of a cycle tracking smartphone app, Ovia Fertility, aged 18 or older in the U.S. were randomly invited via email to complete a "fertility research" questionnaire that included demographic and reproductive characteristics. Among those attempting pregnancy without medical assistance, attempt duration, factors influencing pregnancy planning, health history and behaviors while attempting to conceive were queried. Respondents could choose to enter a raffle for a $50 gift card. Results: Initially, 639 people responded to the demographics portion of the survey representing 49 states and Washington DC. Of these, 344 (54%) were trying to conceive and of those, 297 (86%) were not using medical treatments. Of those not trying to conceive, 12% reported that they planned to start in the next 3 months. Most participants were ages 26-35 (63%), of White race (70%), reported non-Hispanic ethnicity (87%), had at least a bachelor's degree (56%) and an income between $50,000 and $200,000 (58%). One-third were of recommended BMI (35%), 24% overweight, and 41% obese. Most participants reported no fertility-related health conditions (58%). Forty-eight participants (17%) had been trying to conceive for 1 month or less, 88 (31%) had been trying for 2 months or less, and 122 (43%) for 3 months or less. Interruptions in pregnancy attempts were common, 31% reported periods without intercourse. Of those attempting pregnancy, 47% of partners completed their own questionnaire. Conclusion: This first-of its-kind analysis describes users of a cycle-tracking smartphone app who could be eligible for recruitment to a prospective time-to-pregnancy study. Survey respondents were diverse with respect to geographic location, BMI, and income. However, special recruitment efforts will be needed to recruit participants and partners who identify as other than non-Hispanic White. Participants with fertility-related conditions are not overly represented among app users who are trying to conceive. Targeting and pre-enrolling app users who are planning to begin a pregnancy attempt in the next 3 months may be an advantage of app-based recruitment.