Pregnancy app quality and usage

With over 1000 pregnancy apps currently available online, parents are finding new ways to get information about pregnancy and baby development. In Germany alone, with a 2020 birthrate of 778,000, more than 600,600 people have downloaded Pregnancy+, the pregnancy tracker app.

Such apps offer information that is traditionally passed on to mothers by midwives and other healthcare professionals. So the apps could free up time for midwives. However, as the number of pregnancy-related apps grows, there is concern about the credibility and quality of the information offered in these apps.

Evaluations using MARS

To find some answers, researchers from the Ghent University Hospital and Department of Public Health and Primary Care carried out a pilot study¹ to scientifically evaluate apps and their use during pregnancy. They also aimed to translate, adapt and validate the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) for professionals and users (uMARS).

MARS is a tool for evaluating mobile health apps, and scores them on engagement, functionality, aesthetics, information quality and subjective quality.

The researchers looked at the 20 most downloaded pregnancy-related apps, available for free in Google Play, and assessed them using MARS. They then asked 311 users to fill in a questionnaire about the 5 most popular apps.

Pregnancy+ was the most downloaded app among the study participants. When looking at the MARS scores for the evaluated apps, Pregnancy+ received the highest total MARS score (4.38 out of 5). Among the topics, the app scored highest in aesthetics, subjective quality and functionality, and shared 3rd place for engagement and information quality.

Who do mothers consult?

It was revealing to discover the sources women turn to when seeking information. Gynaecologists were the most consulted (86.17%), followed by websites and the internet (85.85%), apps (74.92%), friends (62.38%) and midwives (59.16%).

However, these percentages change when comparing women with higher education and those with lower levels of education. The latter group tends to reach out to friends and family more often, attend more parenting classes, and search more often online for information about discomfort and pain.

Ease of use and timeliness

When using apps, most women searched for baby development (88.45%), followed by discomfort or pain during pregnancy (80.71%) and health during pregnancy (79.74%). Breastfeeding came in at 56.59%.

Ease of use and timeliness is another important aspect of app use. Participants said the main reason they downloaded an app was for tips and advice. Why? Because they received the information effortlessly, by push notification, on a daily or weekly basis.

By knowing which apps receive a high MARS score, midwives can feel more confident recommending quality apps – which will save them time answering general questions, as mothers can be redirected to highly rated apps, such as Pregnancy+.

Conclusions

As pregnant women are turning more often to the digital world for information, it is essential for midwives to keep an eye on pregnancy apps. The number of pregnancy apps is growing fast, and the quality of the information offered can affect to the health of mothers.

This study was the first to translate, adapt and validate (u)MARS to Dutch, and prove that MARS is a trustworthy tool for evaluating the quality of pregnancy related apps. In this study, Pregnancy+ was the most downloaded pregnancy app, and scored best on MARS scale.

Hopefully this ground-breaking work will make it easier for midwives to evaluate pregnancy-related apps, so they can recommend quality apps to new parents.

Discover the beauty of Pregnancy+, the highest rated pregnancy app for quality information and tracking².