Personalized coaching through a smartphone
platform can help women improve their lifestyle behaviors in the period before
and shortly after they become pregnant, a new study has shown. The biggest
reduction in behaviors that pose risks to pregnancy were seen in overweight
women.
The findings, published in the journal
Reproductive Biomedicine Online, show that digital healthcare could be a
cost-effective way to deliver tailored advice to women who experience
difficulties in pregnancy, which the NHS does not have the resources to
provide.
In this study, led by the University of
Southampton, 262 women who were planning pregnancies and had either experienced
difficulties in conceiving or recurrent miscarriages signed up to the online
lifestyle coaching programme Smarter Pregnancy. All participants completed
questionnaires through the app at the beginning and at six-week intervals over
the four-month trial. The questionnaires covered subjects such as their diet,
folic acid intake, smoking and consumption of alcohol.
After each questionnaire, half of the
participants (the intervention group) were sent automated advice and
recommendations through the coaching platform, based on their responses. The
other half (the control group) were referred to standard guidance for
periconceptional care on the NHS website.
Analysis of the responses to the questionnaires
showed that the group receiving advice through the Smarter Pregnancy platform
were more likely to make positive changes to their lifestyle over the course of
the trial than participants in the control group. The most significant change
was in the reduction in smoking and drinking alcohol for those with a Body Mass
Index above 25 (overweight). The findings also showed that the odds of becoming
pregnant after 24 weeks were increased for the participants using the app,
although the study team note that more research would be needed to validate
this connection as this study was targeted on improving lifestyle choices
rather than assessing pregnancy rates.
“Our trial shows that
digital healthcare tools can help women improve their lifestyle and the health
of their babies.
Using this tool, women
can take control of their own body, and it also removes the impression that
they are being 'told off' when they see their doctor.
I truly hope that we can
use this e-health platform in the future to offer women tailored advice."
Dr Bonnie Ng, MRC Fellow in Clinical and
Experimental Sciences, University of Southampton
