Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances

Abstract Background For decades, antenatal care in high-resource settings has involved 12–14 face-to-face visits across pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many care providers to rapidly embrace telehealth to reduce face-to-face visits. Here we review recent advances in telehealth used to provid...

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Main Authors: Jessica Atkinson, Roxanne Hastie, Susan Walker, Anthea Lindquist, Stephen Tong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-08-01
Series:BMC Medicine
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03042-y
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author Jessica Atkinson
Roxanne Hastie
Susan Walker
Anthea Lindquist
Stephen Tong
author_facet Jessica Atkinson
Roxanne Hastie
Susan Walker
Anthea Lindquist
Stephen Tong
author_sort Jessica Atkinson
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background For decades, antenatal care in high-resource settings has involved 12–14 face-to-face visits across pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many care providers to rapidly embrace telehealth to reduce face-to-face visits. Here we review recent advances in telehealth used to provide antenatal care. Main body We conducted a narrative review examining the impact of telehealth on obstetric care. Two broad types of telehealth are used in antenatal care. The first is real-time telehealth, where consultations are done virtually instead of face-to-face. The second is remote monitoring, where in-clinic physical examinations are replaced with at-home alternatives. These can include blood pressure monitoring, fetal heart rate monitoring, and emerging technologies such as tele-ultrasound. Large cohort studies conducted during the pandemic era have shown that telehealth appears not to have increased adverse clinical outcomes for mothers or babies. However, further studies may be required to confidently conclude rare outcomes are unchanged, such as maternal mortality, serious morbidity, or stillbirth. Health economic studies suggest telehealth has the potential to reduce the financial cost of care provision. Telehealth in antenatal care seems to be acceptable to both pregnant women and healthcare providers. Conclusion Adoption of telehealth technologies may improve the antenatal care experience for women and reduce healthcare expenditure without adversely impacting health outcomes for the mother or baby. More studies are warranted to confirm telehealth does not alter the risk of rare outcomes such as maternal or neonatal mortality.
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spelling doaj.art-74783422f8bd4455b7db00a6b656e3a82023-11-26T13:33:57ZengBMCBMC Medicine1741-70152023-08-0121111710.1186/s12916-023-03042-yTelehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advancesJessica Atkinson0Roxanne Hastie1Susan Walker2Anthea Lindquist3Stephen Tong4Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Mercy Hospital for WomenDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Mercy Hospital for WomenDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Mercy Hospital for WomenDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Mercy Hospital for WomenDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Melbourne, Mercy Hospital for WomenAbstract Background For decades, antenatal care in high-resource settings has involved 12–14 face-to-face visits across pregnancy. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many care providers to rapidly embrace telehealth to reduce face-to-face visits. Here we review recent advances in telehealth used to provide antenatal care. Main body We conducted a narrative review examining the impact of telehealth on obstetric care. Two broad types of telehealth are used in antenatal care. The first is real-time telehealth, where consultations are done virtually instead of face-to-face. The second is remote monitoring, where in-clinic physical examinations are replaced with at-home alternatives. These can include blood pressure monitoring, fetal heart rate monitoring, and emerging technologies such as tele-ultrasound. Large cohort studies conducted during the pandemic era have shown that telehealth appears not to have increased adverse clinical outcomes for mothers or babies. However, further studies may be required to confidently conclude rare outcomes are unchanged, such as maternal mortality, serious morbidity, or stillbirth. Health economic studies suggest telehealth has the potential to reduce the financial cost of care provision. Telehealth in antenatal care seems to be acceptable to both pregnant women and healthcare providers. Conclusion Adoption of telehealth technologies may improve the antenatal care experience for women and reduce healthcare expenditure without adversely impacting health outcomes for the mother or baby. More studies are warranted to confirm telehealth does not alter the risk of rare outcomes such as maternal or neonatal mortality.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03042-yTelehealthPregnancyAntenatal careObstetricsCost-effectivenessMaternal outcomes
spellingShingle Jessica Atkinson
Roxanne Hastie
Susan Walker
Anthea Lindquist
Stephen Tong
Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances
BMC Medicine
Telehealth
Pregnancy
Antenatal care
Obstetrics
Cost-effectiveness
Maternal outcomes
title Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances
title_full Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances
title_fullStr Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances
title_full_unstemmed Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances
title_short Telehealth in antenatal care: recent insights and advances
title_sort telehealth in antenatal care recent insights and advances
topic Telehealth
Pregnancy
Antenatal care
Obstetrics
Cost-effectiveness
Maternal outcomes
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03042-y
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AT roxannehastie telehealthinantenatalcarerecentinsightsandadvances
AT susanwalker telehealthinantenatalcarerecentinsightsandadvances
AT anthealindquist telehealthinantenatalcarerecentinsightsandadvances
AT stephentong telehealthinantenatalcarerecentinsightsandadvances