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An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth : does it deliver?

Seppe Segers (UGent) , Heidi Mertes (UGent) and Guido Pennings (UGent)
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Abstract
Many pregnant women use pregnancy related mHealth (PRmHealth) applications, encompassing a variety of pregnancy apps and wearables. These are mostly directed at supporting a healthier fetal development. In this article we argue that the increasing dominance of PRmHealth stands in want of empirical knowledge affirming its beneficence in terms of improved pregnancy outcomes. This is a crucial ethical issue, especially in the light of concerns about increasing pressures and growing responsibilities ascribed to pregnant women, which may, in turn, be reinforced by PRmHealth. A point can be made that it would be ethically askew if PRmHealth does not lead to improved pregnancy outcomes, while at the same time increasing maternal duties to closely monitor fetal development. We conclude that more research is needed to get a view on the benefits and burdens of PRmHealth in order to ethically assess whether the latter are proportionate to the former. If not, there is a case in saying that endorsement of PRmHealth is overdemanding.
Keywords
Health Policy, Education, Health(social science), mHealth, Pregnancy apps, Wearables, Fetal patient, Autonomy, Moral responsibility, FETAL, SMARTPHONE, DIAGNOSIS, RISK, CARE

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MLA
Segers, Seppe, et al. “An Ethical Exploration of Pregnancy Related MHealth : Does It Deliver?” MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY, vol. 24, no. 4, 2021, pp. 677–85, doi:10.1007/s11019-021-10039-y.
APA
Segers, S., Mertes, H., & Pennings, G. (2021). An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth : does it deliver? MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY, 24(4), 677–685. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-021-10039-y
Chicago author-date
Segers, Seppe, Heidi Mertes, and Guido Pennings. 2021. “An Ethical Exploration of Pregnancy Related MHealth : Does It Deliver?” MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY 24 (4): 677–85. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-021-10039-y.
Chicago author-date (all authors)
Segers, Seppe, Heidi Mertes, and Guido Pennings. 2021. “An Ethical Exploration of Pregnancy Related MHealth : Does It Deliver?” MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY 24 (4): 677–685. doi:10.1007/s11019-021-10039-y.
Vancouver
1.
Segers S, Mertes H, Pennings G. An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth : does it deliver? MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY. 2021;24(4):677–85.
IEEE
[1]
S. Segers, H. Mertes, and G. Pennings, “An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth : does it deliver?,” MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 677–685, 2021.
@article{8715141,
  abstract     = {{Many pregnant women use pregnancy related mHealth (PRmHealth) applications, encompassing a variety of pregnancy apps and wearables. These are mostly directed at supporting a healthier fetal development. In this article we argue that the increasing dominance of PRmHealth stands in want of empirical knowledge affirming its beneficence in terms of improved pregnancy outcomes. This is a crucial ethical issue, especially in the light of concerns about increasing pressures and growing responsibilities ascribed to pregnant women, which may, in turn, be reinforced by PRmHealth. A point can be made that it would be ethically askew if PRmHealth does not lead to improved pregnancy outcomes, while at the same time increasing maternal duties to closely monitor fetal development. We conclude that more research is needed to get a view on the benefits and burdens of PRmHealth in order to ethically assess whether the latter are proportionate to the former. If not, there is a case in saying that endorsement of PRmHealth is overdemanding.}},
  author       = {{Segers, Seppe and Mertes, Heidi and Pennings, Guido}},
  issn         = {{1386-7423}},
  journal      = {{MEDICINE HEALTH CARE AND PHILOSOPHY}},
  keywords     = {{Health Policy,Education,Health(social science),mHealth,Pregnancy apps,Wearables,Fetal patient,Autonomy,Moral responsibility,FETAL,SMARTPHONE,DIAGNOSIS,RISK,CARE}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{677--685}},
  title        = {{An ethical exploration of pregnancy related mHealth : does it deliver?}},
  url          = {{http://doi.org/10.1007/s11019-021-10039-y}},
  volume       = {{24}},
  year         = {{2021}},
}

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