Ayadi Alison M El, Diamond-Smith Nadia, Schuman Mia, Weil Laura
University of California San Francisco.
Res Sq. 2025 Jul 7:rs.3.rs-6872774. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6872774/v1.
Social support in pregnancy and postpartum is important for optimizing maternal and infant health. Group prenatal care offers the opportunity for in-person social support yet does not extend into the postpartum period. Mobile social support models may further meet the needs of pregnant persons and partners during pregnancy and into the postpartum period. However, the use and utility of mobile social support for pregnant people and their partners in the context of group prenatal care and beyond has not been studied. Assessing Centering patients' utilization of existing social media platforms can inform programmatic development.
We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study among recent participants of UCSF's Centering Pregnancy program and their partners. Study participants were recruited through UCSF's electronic health record system or direct email and partners were recruited through referral from participants. Online surveys sought to understand participant perspectives on mobile groups, educational and social support needs, and recommendations.
Participants gave birth between 2018-2021 (68%), were college-educated (97.3%), and regularly accessed social media (>75% across platforms). Most participants engaged in Centering Pregnancy online communications outside of formal activities (79% during pregnancy, 74% postpartum) for social support (78.1%) and knowledge sharing (65.2%). Most posted content monthly (54.6%) but read content more frequently (48.0% at least weekly). Communication frequency and topics changed with the COVID-19 pandemic. Respondents wanted more information on infant sleep (42.6%), maternal recovery/health (38.7%), breastfeeding/formula feeding (37.4%), newborn health and care (34.2%), and child development (27.1%). Social group engagement was higher for individuals reporting depressive or anxiety symptoms during pregnancy and postpartum.
The findings confirm the importance of social support, especially postpartum, for health, how mobile support groups can impact these outcomes, and needs and areas of improvement for group prenatal care. Integration of a social media support component to the evolving post-COVID Centering Pregnancy model may be an important addition to improve participating parent wellbeing.
孕期和产后的社会支持对于优化母婴健康非常重要。小组产前护理提供了面对面社会支持的机会，但并未延伸至产后阶段。移动社会支持模式可能会进一步满足孕妇及其伴侣在孕期和产后的需求。然而，在小组产前护理及其他背景下，移动社会支持对孕妇及其伴侣的使用情况和效用尚未得到研究。评估参加围产期保健小组的患者对现有社交媒体平台的使用情况可为项目发展提供参考。
我们对加州大学旧金山分校围产期保健小组项目的近期参与者及其伴侣进行了一项回顾性横断面研究。研究参与者通过加州大学旧金山分校的电子健康记录系统或直接电子邮件招募，伴侣则通过参与者的推荐招募。在线调查旨在了解参与者对移动群组、教育和社会支持需求以及建议的看法。
参与者在2018年至2021年期间分娩（68%），接受过大学教育（97.3%），并经常使用社交媒体（各平台使用率均超过75%）。大多数参与者在正式活动之外参与围产期保健小组的在线交流（孕期79%，产后74%），以获得社会支持（78.1%）和知识分享（65.2%）。大多数人每月发布内容（54.6%），但阅读内容更频繁（48.0%至少每周一次）。随着新冠疫情的出现，交流频率和话题发生了变化。受访者希望获得更多关于婴儿睡眠（42.6%）、产妇恢复/健康（38.7%）、母乳喂养/配方奶喂养（37.4%）、新生儿健康与护理（34.2%）以及儿童发育（27.1%）的信息。孕期和产后报告有抑郁或焦虑症状的个体参与社会群组的程度更高。
研究结果证实了社会支持，尤其是产后社会支持对健康的重要性，移动支持群组如何影响这些结果，以及小组产前护理的需求和改进领域。将社交媒体支持组件整合到不断发展的新冠疫情后围产期保健小组模式中，可能是改善参与项目的父母健康状况的一项重要补充。
