How do health professionals acknowledge Web-based knowledge in pregnancy consultations?

ABSTRACT

Websites for pregnancy health are an important source of information for pregnant women, but how different cadres of health professionals value and utilize pregnant women's e-health literacy (e-HL) and Web-based knowledge in pregnancy consultations is not well understood. Using a qualitative research design and pelvic girdle pain as a tracer condition, we explored how Norwegian doctors, midwives and physiotherapists manage women's e-HL and Web-based knowledge in pregnancy consultations. The recognition of pregnant women's e-HL and Web-based knowledge differed across professional groups and produced dismissive, reactive and proactive attitudes depending on time pressure, professional identity and Internet experience.

Acknowledgments

We thank the interviewees for their positive contributions to our study.

Declaration of conflicting interests

The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

The authors thank Bergen University College for funding the study.