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UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey

Seeking support from Facebook groups during pregnancy is now widespread and social media has been widely used by the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) maternity services to communicate with service users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, little is currently known about midwives’...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Morse, Holly, Brown, Amy
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10109466/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37068068
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000043
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author Morse, Holly
Brown, Amy
author_facet Morse, Holly
Brown, Amy
author_sort Morse, Holly
collection PubMed
description Seeking support from Facebook groups during pregnancy is now widespread and social media has been widely used by the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) maternity services to communicate with service users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, little is currently known about midwives’ attitudes towards, and experiences of social media in practice. Research is needed to understand barriers and solutions to meeting mothers’ expectations of online support and to improve services. This study explored midwife involvement in Facebook groups, exploring experiences and perceptions of its use to communicate with and support mothers. An online survey consisting of open and closed questions was completed by 719 midwives and student during August- September 2020. Quantitative questionnaire data was analysed descriptively using SPSS v26. Qualitative data gathered from free text responses was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Few participants were involved in providing Facebook support, and most of these were unpaid. There was a consensus on a range of benefits for mothers, but widespread concern that engaging with mothers online was a personal and professional risk, underpinned by a lack of support. Experience of being involved in midwife moderation increased belief in its benefits and reduced fear of engaging online, despite a lack of renumeration and resources. Midwives and students felt they were discouraged from offering Facebook support and sought further training, guidance and support. Although limited, experiences of providing Facebook group support are positive. Perceptions of risk and a lack of support are significant barriers to midwives’ involvement in using Facebook groups to support mothers. Midwives seek support and training to safely and effectively engage with mothers using Facebook. Engaging with mothers via social media is embedded in UK national policy and NHS digital strategy, and progress is needed to fulfil these, to improve services and meet mothers’ expectations. Midwives’ experiences suggest extending opportunities to provide Facebook support would benefit midwives, services and families. Consultation to revise local policy to support midwives and students in line with strategic goals is recommended.
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spelling pubmed-101094662023-04-18 UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey Morse, Holly Brown, Amy PLOS Digit Health Research Article Seeking support from Facebook groups during pregnancy is now widespread and social media has been widely used by the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS) maternity services to communicate with service users during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this, little is currently known about midwives’ attitudes towards, and experiences of social media in practice. Research is needed to understand barriers and solutions to meeting mothers’ expectations of online support and to improve services. This study explored midwife involvement in Facebook groups, exploring experiences and perceptions of its use to communicate with and support mothers. An online survey consisting of open and closed questions was completed by 719 midwives and student during August- September 2020. Quantitative questionnaire data was analysed descriptively using SPSS v26. Qualitative data gathered from free text responses was analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Few participants were involved in providing Facebook support, and most of these were unpaid. There was a consensus on a range of benefits for mothers, but widespread concern that engaging with mothers online was a personal and professional risk, underpinned by a lack of support. Experience of being involved in midwife moderation increased belief in its benefits and reduced fear of engaging online, despite a lack of renumeration and resources. Midwives and students felt they were discouraged from offering Facebook support and sought further training, guidance and support. Although limited, experiences of providing Facebook group support are positive. Perceptions of risk and a lack of support are significant barriers to midwives’ involvement in using Facebook groups to support mothers. Midwives seek support and training to safely and effectively engage with mothers using Facebook. Engaging with mothers via social media is embedded in UK national policy and NHS digital strategy, and progress is needed to fulfil these, to improve services and meet mothers’ expectations. Midwives’ experiences suggest extending opportunities to provide Facebook support would benefit midwives, services and families. Consultation to revise local policy to support midwives and students in line with strategic goals is recommended. Public Library of Science 2023-04-17 /pmc/articles/PMC10109466/ /pubmed/37068068 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000043 Text en © 2023 Morse, Brown https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Morse, Holly
Brown, Amy
UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey
title UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey
title_full UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey
title_fullStr UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey
title_full_unstemmed UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey
title_short UK midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using Facebook to provide perinatal support: Results of an exploratory online survey
title_sort uk midwives’ perceptions and experiences of using facebook to provide perinatal support: results of an exploratory online survey
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10109466/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37068068
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pdig.0000043
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