Designing an IT Ecosystem for Pregnancy Care Management Based on Pervasive Technologies

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Maternal Health Technology

Background:

• Pregnancy care management faces challenges that can be addressed by novel technologies.
• Pervasive technologies like mobile apps, wearables, and IoT offer new possibilities for improving maternal health outcomes.
• Enhanced communication among stakeholders is crucial for effective pregnancy care and societal development.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a model for a pregnancy care information technology (IT) ecosystem.
• To demonstrate the integration of diverse services within a semantically enriched e-health framework.
• To develop and evaluate web and mobile applications for pregnant women and gynecologists.

Main Methods:

• Development of proof-of-concept web and mobile applications for pregnancy care.
• Deployment of the developed IT ecosystem in a real-world environment.
• Evaluation of the system's acceptance through a survey administered to 500 pregnant women and 100 doctors.

Main Results:

• The developed pregnancy care IT ecosystem demonstrated high levels of perceived quality, usability, and usefulness.
• Both pregnant women and doctors expressed readiness for broader adoption and extensive use of the system.
• Pilot usage indicated significant potential benefits for all stakeholders involved in pregnancy care.

Conclusions:

• Integrated IT ecosystems leveraging pervasive technologies can significantly enhance pregnancy care management.
• The developed e-health system shows high acceptance and potential for widespread implementation.
• Pervasive technologies are poised to deliver substantial advantages across the entire spectrum of pregnancy care systems.