Exploration of Preconception Education Using Social Media

Abstract

Women that experience unintended pregnancies have significantly poorer maternal, neonatal and fetal outcomes. Nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended, underscoring the need to find more effective strategies to educate women about preconception care. The body of evidence for using social media to disseminate and gain health information is rapidly growing, as one in four Americans now uses social media to seek health information. This pilot project is constructed around the elements of preconception care, the internet, and social media and is designed to explore if and how young women in Clark County, Washington, are using social media to gain knowledge about preconception care. Qualitative description was the design for this study. Twelve non-pregnant, English speaking female residents of Clark County, between the ages of 18 to 24, were recruited via Facebook and snowballing, and took an online survey, using Qualtrics. Results revealed that to learn about health care topics, 75% of respondents use the Internet, 58% use their healthcare provider, and 25% use social media, but to get information that they trust, 58% prefer a health database and 42% prefer a healthcare provider. Respondents also indicated that 81% were not taking folic acid supplementation and 78% were overweight or obese. It appears that the Internet and apps are used and trusted more than social media, and online platforms are preferred for receiving health information. Respondents expressed a high level of trust in health care providers, but used online platforms first to save time, prepare for appointments, and compare information to achieve consensus. Recommendations include collaborative educational interventions with the March of Dimes, the public health department, and local health care delivery entities to share how to protect online privacy, where to look for credible information online, designing an online intervention to promote folic acid supplementation, and suggestions for further research.