This document summarizes research on women's use of digital media for pregnancy and parenting. It describes current projects studying pregnancy and parenting apps as well as an online forum for parents. It provides results from a survey of 410 women in Australia on their use of pregnancy apps and other digital sources of information and support. Key findings include that 73% of respondents had used pregnancy apps, mainly for information on baby development and body changes, and 92% found the apps useful, especially for information and monitoring development.

1. Women’s Use of Digital Media for
Pregnancy & Parenting
Deborah Lupton
News & Media
Research Centre
University of Canberra
Twitter: @DALupton
Email:
deborah.lupton@canberra.edu.au

2. Intersections of research interests
pregnancy +
motherhood
digital
health
big data
cultures
digital
sociology
digitised
children

5. Current projects (with Sarah Pedersen +
Gareth Thomas)
1. Pregnancy and Parenting Apps Study: survey and
focus groups completed with Australian women
currently pregnant or had given birth in the last 3 years
- interviews with UK women currently in progress
2. Mumsnet Study: analysis of posts on this British
online forum for parents
3. Pregnancy Apps Content Analysis Study: critical
content analysis of pregnancy apps in Apple App Store
and Google Play

6. Pregnancy and Parenting Apps Study -
sources of data
Part 1: Survey of 410 women around Australia (every
state and territory, aged 18—45), November 2014
Part 2: Four focus groups in Sydney (36 women aged
23– 42), May 2015

7. Survey respondents: state/territory
NSW
34%
VIC
24%
QLD
19%
SA
6%
WA
8%
TAS
3%
ACT
5%
NT
1%
State

8. Women’s sources of information/support - digital
online search tools (Google)
online parenting websites (Baby Center, Essential
Baby, Raising Children, baby clubs)
news sites and blogs (Mamamia)
apps (Wonder Weeks, Huggies, Baby Bump)
social media (Facebook, Instagram)
YouTube (information videos)

9. Women’s sources of information/support – non-
digital
healthcare professionals
friends and family
books and pamphlets
television (documentaries)

10. 73% of the respondents had used a
pregnancy app
1 app
37%
2-4 apps
57%
5+
6%
Ever used pregnancy app (73%)

11. daily
28%
few times per week
24%
weekly
24%
monthly
8%
occasionally
16%
How often used apps

12. What were pregnancy apps used for?
• information about their baby’s development : 86%
• information about changes in their body related to pregnancy:
71%
• tracking aspects of their body, such as weight gain or diet:
33%
• online discussions with other pregnant women : 27%
• tracking aspects of their baby, such as its heart rate: 18%
• keeping track of information about their medical
appointments, test results and so on: 18%
• for keeping a pregnancy journal: 14%
• for uploading and storing photos of themselves while
pregnant: 9%
• for uploading and storing foetal ultrasound images: 4%
• other: 5%

13. How useful were these pregnancy apps?
• 92% of those who used apps said that they found them useful or
helpful
• apps gave useful information : 83%
• helped women monitor their foetus’s development : 70%
• helped women monitor changes in their own body: 59%
• provided reassurance: 58%
• helped the women connect with other pregnant women: 24%
• helped women keep track of their medical appointments and other
medical details: 16%
• helped the women share information about their pregnancy with
friends and family: 14%
• helped the women store photographs or videos of their changing
body: 9%
• helped the women store ultrasound images of the foetus: 3%

14. For pregnancy info/support
Facebook
18%
YouTube
7%
websites
47%
online
support
forums
21%
none
7%
Use of digital media other than apps