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Electronic communication preferences among mothers in the neonatal intensive care unit

Journal of Perinatology volume 36, pages 997–1000 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Objective:

Mobile communication with the medical-care team has the potential to decrease stress among parents of infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We assessed mobile use and communication preferences in a population of urban minority NICU mothers.

Study Design:

A 30-question English language survey was administered to mothers of NICU patients.

Results:

The survey was completed by 217 mothers, 75% were Black, and 75% reported annual household income below $20 000. Only 56% had a computer with Internet access at home, but 79% used smartphones. Most (79%) have searched the Internet for health information in the past year. Receiving electronic messages about their babies was viewed favorably, and text messaging was the preferred platform. The majority of mothers felt electronic messaging would improve communication but should not replace verbal communication.

Conclusion:

Mobile communication is used widely in this population of NICU mothers and could potentially improve provider–parent communication and reduce parental stress.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Treva Rutherford, LMSW, Chundra Harris, LMSW, Shandrian Guinn, LMSW and Morganne Austin for their assistance with data collection. This study received no internal or external funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    M F Weems & G Beeman

  2. Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    I Graetz

  3. College of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    R Lan

  4. Department of Perinatal Social Work, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

    L R DeBaer

Authors
  1. M F Weems
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  2. I Graetz
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  3. R Lan
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  4. L R DeBaer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to M F Weems.

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Competing interests

WMF receives consulting fee from the American Academy of Pediatrics. The remaining authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Perinatology website

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Weems, M., Graetz, I., Lan, R. et al. Electronic communication preferences among mothers in the neonatal intensive care unit. J Perinatol 36, 997–1000 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2016.125

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