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. 2025 Apr 8:9:e72469.
doi: 10.2196/72469.

Chatbot to Support the Mental Health Needs of Pregnant and Postpartum Women (Moment for Parents): Design and Pilot Study

Kelsey McAlister  1 , Lara Baez  1 , Jennifer Huberty  1 , Marianna Kerppola  2
Affiliations

Chatbot to Support the Mental Health Needs of Pregnant and Postpartum Women (Moment for Parents): Design and Pilot Study

Kelsey McAlister et al. JMIR Form Res. .

Abstract

Background: Maternal mental health disorders are prevalent, yet many individuals do not receive adequate support due to stigma, financial constraints, and limited access to care. Digital interventions, particularly chatbots, have the potential to provide scalable, low-cost support, but few are tailored specifically to the needs of perinatal individuals.

Objective: This study aimed to (1) design and develop Moment for Parents, a tailored chatbot for perinatal mental health education and support, and (2) assess usability through engagement, usage patterns, and user experience.

Methods: This study used a human-centered design to develop Moment for Parents, a rules-based chatbot to support pregnant and postpartum individuals. In phase 1, ethnographic interviews (n=43) explored user needs to inform chatbot development. In phase 2, a total of 108 pregnant and postpartum individuals were recruited to participate in a pilot test and had unrestricted access to the chatbot. Engagement was tracked over 8 months to assess usage patterns and re-engagement rates. After 1 month, participants completed a usability, relevance, and satisfaction survey, providing key insights for refining the chatbot.

Results: Key themes that came from the ethnographic interviews in phase 1 included the need for trusted resources, emotional support, and better mental health guidance. These insights informed chatbot content, including mood-based exercises and coping strategies. Re-engagement was high (69/108, 63.9%), meaning users who had stopped interacting for at least 1 week returned to the chatbot at least once. A large proportion (28/69, 40.6%) re-engaged 3 or more times. Overall, 28/30 (93.3%) found the chatbot relevant for them, though some noted repetitive content and limited response options.

Conclusions: The Moment for Parents chatbot successfully engaged pregnant and postpartum individuals with higher-than-typical retention and re-engagement patterns. The findings underscore the importance of flexible, mood-based digital support tailored to perinatal needs. Future research should examine how intermittent chatbot use influences mental health outcomes and refine content delivery to enhance long-term engagement and effectiveness.

Keywords: chatbot; digital health; digital tool; human-centered design; maternal health; perinatal support.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: MK is employed by Poisera, Inc (dba Moment for Parents), and Moment for Parents was used in this study. JH is a paid consultant of Moment for Parents, and KM and LB are employed by JH. However, authors’ employment status or salary are not dependent upon the results of their research.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Overview of this study’s design.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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