The applications of digital health in obstetric care: impacts and perspectives that go beyond the COVID-19 pandemics/Aplicacoes da saude digital no cuidado obstetrico: impactos e perspectivas que extrapolam a pandemia de COVID-19

• Published in: Revista de medicina (São Paulo, Brazil) Vol. 102; no. 4
• Main Authors: Perez, Murilo Pissinati, de Oliveira, Nathalia Cristian Ferreira, Reis, Zilma Silveira Nogueira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Universidade de Sao Paulo. Departamento Cientifico da Faculdade de Medicina 01.07.2023
• Subjects: Brasil
• ISSN: 0034-8554
• DOI: 10.11606/issn.1679-9836.v102i4e-199087

Introduction: The women's welfare, as viewed as a whole in women's healthcare, may be exemplified as obstetric and prenatal care, which is based on the access to health services and good quality information. Those factors enlarge women's empowerment, decrease pregnancy complications and maternal-fetal mortality rate. Many informatized systems have been driven by COVID-19 pandemics and have become an ally in women's healthcare and in pregnancy development, in which telemedicine and mobile health apps have been made important pillars on e-Health to facilitating doctor-pregnant patient relationship. Objective: To evaluate in the literature about the impacts of digital health system implementation and pregnancy healthcare during prenatal care and validation of pregnant women information. Methods: It was used the database of PubMed, SciELO, Google Scholar and BVS between the period of 2016 and 2021, using Portuguese and English descriptors, including meta-analysis, prospective and retrospective cohorts, as well as case reports. Results: There were 13 selected articles that represent the theme of obstetric healthcare, prenatal care related to digital information and validation of pregnancy data reporting. Analyzed under the perspective of three main areas involved in digital health applications related to obstetric care, they were related to a better pregnancy healthcare and to women's empowerment tool. Discussion: The pregnancy information validity constitutes a building up public policy tool and empowers epidemiological research. The quality of this information and the active pregnancy participation are essential pillars to promote mother-child health. Besides that, educational healthcare apps have been made one of the informatized ways by which telemedicine has become popular among patients, it has been included as an interventional way in the doctor-patient relationship. Therefore, healthcare obstetrics tools such as prenatal care has been made easily acessed and diversed through e-Health, even though during these pandemic times. Finally, the birth plan has become an efficacious tool in the prenatal care, in which it has made available a better communication between the pregnant woman and its medical team, family, friends and people around her, it represents their preferences concerning the birth time, in which it makes it an humanized delivery. Conclusion: Through the analysis of the articles it was found that the obstetric health information technology allows an integral and closer care through mobile applications, in which they have improved and diminished healthcare access barriers. Those tools allied to a consolidated and informatized birth plan, plus the fact of sharing educational resources, they potentiate women's decision-making process. KEYWORDS: Obstetrics; Digital health; Pandemic. Introducao: O bem-estar da mulher, em uma visao integral do cuidado a saude feminina, exemplificado pelo cuidado obstetrico e atencao pre-natal, se respalda no acesso aos servicos de saude e a informacao de qualidade. Esses fatores aumentam o empoderamento feminino, reduzem as complicacoes e os indices de mortalidade materno-fetais. Impulsionados pelo periodo de pandemia COVID-19, diversos sistemas informatizados tem se tornado aliados no cuidado a saude da mulher e ao desenvolvimento da gestacao, sendo a telemedicina e os aplicativos em saude pilares importantes da e-Saude que facilitam a interface medico-gestante. Objetivo: Levantar evidencias na literatura sobre os impactos das implementacoes de tecnologias digitais na saude e atencao a gestante durante o cuidado pre-natal e a validacao da informacao gerada pela gestante. Metodo: Foram utilizadas as bases de dados PubMed, SciELO, Google Scholar e BVS no periodo de 2016 a 2021, com descritores em portugues e ingles, incluindo artigos de revisao, meta-analises, coortes prospectivas e retrospectivas, assim como os relatos de caso. Resultado: Foram selecionados 13 artigos representando os temas da atencao a gestante, cuidados pre-natal relacionados as tecnologias digitais e validacao da informacao da usuaria. Analisados sob a perspectiva de tres grandes areas envolvidas na aplicacao da saude digital ao cuidado obstetrico, resultaram em uma relacao de maior cuidado a saude da gestante, alem de disponibilizar ferramentas de empoderamento feminino Discussao: A validacao da informacao da gestante constitui uma ferramenta de fomento as politicas publicas e pesquisas epidemiologicas. A qualidade dessa informacao e a participacao ativa da gestante sao pilares importantes para a promocao de saude materna-infantil. Ademais, aplicativos educativos em saude tem sido uma das formas informatizadas pela qual a telemedicina se populariza dentre os pacientes, inclusive como meio intervencionista nas relacoes medico-paciente. Assim, ferramentas de saude obstetrica como o pre-natal se tornaram mais acessiveis e diversificadas, mesmo em um periodo de pandemia, por meio da e-Saude. Por fim, o plano de parto mostra-se uma ferramenta eficaz no pre-natal, facilitando a comunicacao da gestante com a equipe medica, familiares e amigos, acerca das suas preferencias quanto ao processo de parto, estimulando a mulher a ser protagonista de seu parto, humanizando-o. Conclusao: A analise das publicacoes avaliadas aponta que as tecnologias de informacao na area de saude obstetrica permitem um cuidado integral e proximo por meios eletronicos como aplicativos digitais, melhorando a atencao e diminuindo barreiras de acesso aos servicos de saude. Aliadas a um plano de parto consolidado e informatizado, alem de partilharem conteudos educativos, essas ferramentas ainda potencializam o poder de decisao feminino. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Obstetricia; Saude digital; Pandemia.