Experiences, Attitudes, and Needs of Users of a Pregnancy and Parenting App (Baby Buddy) During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mixed Methods Study

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the lives of expectant parents and parents of young babies, with disruptions in health care provision and loss of social support. Objective This study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown on this population through the lens of users of the UK National Health Service–approved pregnancy and parenting smartphone app, Baby Buddy. The study aims were threefold: to gain insights into the attitudes and experiences of expectant and recent parents (with babies under 24 weeks of age) during the COVID-19 pandemic; to investigate whether Baby Buddy is meeting users’ needs during this time; and to identify ways to revise the content of Baby Buddy to better support its users now and in future. Methods A mixed methods study design combining a web-based survey with semistructured telephone interviews among Baby Buddy users in the United Kingdom was applied. Data were collected from April 15 to mid-June 2020, corresponding to weeks 4-13 of the lockdown in the United Kingdom. Results A total of 436 expectant (n=244, 56.0%) and recent (n=192, 44.0%) parents responded to the web-based survey, of which 79.1% (n=345) were aged 25-39 years and 17.2% (n=75) spoke English as their second language. Of the 436 respondents, 88.5% (386/436) reported increased levels of anxiety around pregnancy, birth, and being a new parent, and 58.0% (253/436) were concerned about their emotional and mental health. Of the 244 pregnant respondents, 43.4% (n=106) were concerned about their physical health. Telephone interviews with 13 pregnant women and 19 recent parents revealed similarly increased levels of anxiety due to reduced health care provision and loss of support from friends and family. Although a minority of respondents identified some positive outcomes of lockdown, such as family bonding, many telephone interviewees reported feeling isolated, disregarded, and overwhelmed. Recent parents were particularly anxious about the impact of the lockdown on their baby’s development and socialization. Many interviewees were also concerned about their physical health as a consequence of both limited access to face-to-face medical appointments and their own poorer dietary and physical activity behaviors. Across both samples, 97.0% (423/436) of respondents reported that Baby Buddy was currently helping them, with many commenting that its role was even more important given the lack of face-to-face support from health care and parenting organizations. Greater speed in updating digital content to reflect changes due to the pandemic was suggested. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic has created heightened anxiety and stress among expectant parents and those with a young baby, and for many, lockdown has had an adverse impact on their physical and mental well-being. With reductions in health care and social support, expectant and new parents are increasingly relying on web-based resources. As a free, evidence-based app, Baby Buddy is well positioned to meet this need. The app could support its users even more by actively directing them to the wealth of existing content relevant to their concerns and by adding content to give users the knowledge and confidence to meet new challenges.

Effects of mHealth on the psychosocial health of pregnant women and mothers: a systematic review

“…64 65 A few studies among the seven qualitative studies [66][67][68][69][70][71][72] lacked information on the positionality of researchers and potential bias may have risen due to the recruitment strategy. Seven mixedmethods study [73][74][75][76][77][78][79] also did not provide any information on confounding. Furthermore, online supplemental file 7 shows the results of the GRADE certainty of evidence assessment.…”

Changes in social support of pregnant and postnatal mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…al., under review), the timing of which coincided with a period when these individuals may rely heavily on social support structures ( Baker & Yang, 2018 ; Gabbe et al, 2017 ). During COVID-19, pregnant and postpartum women tended to decrease the size of their social circles to reduce disease transmission ( Rhodes, Kheireddine, & Smith, 2020 ). In-person support groups and classes seemed to have experienced significant disruption, making the establishment of new connections and community with other mothers even more difficult.…”

A Technology-Based Pregnancy Health and Wellness Intervention (Two Happy Hearts): Case Study

“…The literature also shows mixed results about HRV patterns during pregnancy, with and without intervention [ 49 - 51 ]. It is worth noting that various factors may influence self-reported emotions and HRV, including pregnancy progression, external circumstances such as the COVID-19 pandemic, and different methods of measuring HRV (eg, wearable device in the home setting vs an electrocardiogram in the laboratory), as well as temporal factors taken into account during measurement (eg, continuous vs short-term interval and day vs night) [ 28 , 49 , 50 , 52 , 53 ]. Our findings may have important implications for continuous remote monitoring of objective and subjective emotional health, particularly during heightened levels of stress and anxiety over the course of pregnancy.…”