Design of the Maternal Website EMAeHealth That Supports Decision-Making During Pregnancy and in the Postpartum Period: Collaborative Action Research Study

BACKGROUND: Despite the benefit maternal education has for women, it needs new tools to increase its effectiveness and scope, in tune with the needs of current users. OBJECTIVE: We attempted to develop a multifunctional personalized eHealth platform aimed at the self-management of health in relation to maternity, which can be considered a flexible and adaptable maternal education tool. METHODS: The International Patient Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) were applied. A website prototype was developed for implementation in the public health system using a collaborative action research process, in which experts and patients participate, with qualitative research techniques, as well as focus groups, prioritization, and consensus techniques. RESULTS: We have proposed a website that includes (1) systematically updated information related to clinical practice guidelines, (2) interaction between peers and users/professionals, (3) instruments for self-assessment of health needs as a basis for working on counseling, agreement on actions, help in the search for resources, support in decision-making, and monitoring and evaluation of results, and (4) access for women to their clinical data and the option of sharing the data with other health agents. These components, with different access requirements, would be reviewed through iterative cycles depending on the frequency and effectiveness resulting from their use and would be accessible from any digital device. CONCLUSIONS: A website that supports maternal education should contain not only information, but also resources for individual attention and social support. Its usefulness for the health and satisfaction of women should be evaluated in various different environments.