Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 May 3;6(5):e76.
doi: 10.2196/resprot.6831.

Meeting the Needs of Mothers During the Postpartum Period: Using Co-Creation Workshops to Find Technological Solutions

Justine Slomian  1 , Patrick Emonts  2 , Lara Vigneron  3 , Alessandro Acconcia  3 , Jean-Yves Reginster  4 , Mina Oumourgh  5 , Olivier Bruyère  1
Affiliations

Meeting the Needs of Mothers During the Postpartum Period: Using Co-Creation Workshops to Find Technological Solutions

Justine Slomian et al. JMIR Res Protoc. .

Abstract

Background: The postnatal period is associated with many new needs for mothers.

Objective: The aim of this study was to find technological solutions that meet the needs of mothers during the year following childbirth.

Methods: Two co-creation workshops were undertaken with parents and professionals. The aim of the first workshop was to create a list of all the criteria the proposed solution would have to address to meet the needs of mothers after childbirth. The aim of the second workshop was to create solutions in response to the criteria selected during the first workshop.

Results: Parents and health professionals want solutions that include empathy (ie, to help fight against the feelings of abnormality and loneliness), that help mothers in daily life, that are personalized and adapted to different situations, that are educational, and that assures some continuity in their contact with health professionals. In practice, we found that parents and professionals think the solution should be accessible to everyone and available at all times. To address these criteria, technology experts proposed different solutions, such as a forum dedicated to the postpartum period that is supervised by professionals, a centralized website, a system of videoconferencing, an online exchange group, a "gift voucher" system, a virtual reality app, or a companion robot.

Conclusions: The human component seems to be very important during the postnatal period. Nevertheless, technology could be a great ally in helping mothers during the postpartum period. Technology can help reliably inform parents and may also give them the right tools to find supportive people. However, these technologies should be tested in clinical trials.

Keywords: co-creating workshop; co-creation; mothers’ needs; postpartum needs; technological solutions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Diagram of the progression from the workshop 1 comments to the workshop 2 solutions.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Emmanuel E, Creedy D, Fraser J. What mothers want: a postnatal survey. Aust J Midwifery. 2001;14(4):16–20. - PubMed
    1. Sword W, Watt S. Learning needs of postpartum women: does socioeconomic status matter? Birth. 2005 Jun;32(2):86–92. doi: 10.1111/j.0730-7659.2005.00350.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Deave T, Johnson D, Ingram J. Transition to parenthood: the needs of parents in pregnancy and early parenthood. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2008 Jul 29;8:30. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-8-30. https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2... - DOI - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Carolan M. Health literacy and the information needs and dilemmas of first-time mothers over 35 years. J Clin Nurs. 2007 Jun;16(6):1162–1172. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2007.01600.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Forster D, McLachlan H, Rayner J, Yelland J, Gold L, Rayner S. The early postnatal period: exploring women's views, expectations and experiences of care using focus groups in Victoria, Australia. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2008 Jul 22;8:27. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-8-27. https://bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2... - DOI - DOI - PMC - PubMed