Prospective User Perceptions and Acceptability of a Wearable Fetal Heart Monitor: Cross-Sectional Survey

Limited access to prenatal care, particularly in maternity care deserts and other underserved communities, contributes to maternal and fetal health disparities. Advances in telehealth and wearable fetal monitoring technologies, including fetal electrocardiography, offer opportunities to support remote fetal assessment and supplement traditional prenatal care. Understanding the acceptability of these technologies among potential users is important for informing future device development and implementation.

This study aims to evaluate perceptions of acceptability and user preferences regarding a wireless fetal heart monitor among women of reproductive age.

A survey was designed to assess the acceptability and user preferences of a wireless fetal monitoring device among women of reproductive age to guide device development. The survey was administered using the Qualtrics XM online survey platform. The survey was distributed using snowball recruitment through community and online postering. Compensation was offered to survey respondents. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 29).

A total of 163 participants completed the survey, with 103 responses to acceptability questions. Older women aged 30 to 49 years showed higher rates of acceptability (40/54, 74.1%) than young women aged 18 to 29 years (26/49, 53.1%). In total, 70.7% (73/103) of the participants preferred a device measuring 2.5 × 7.6 cm or smaller.

Designing a device that incorporates patient preferences may increase the likelihood of patient adoption and consistent use. This study examined perceived acceptability of a hypothetical monitoring device, providing a preliminary foundation to inform future device development and acceptability assessment.