Educational technologies on signs of gestational risk and/or labor for pregnant women: a scoping review.
Thaís Jormanna Pereira Silva, Ana Carolina Nunes Macêdo, Caroline Magalhães Alcântara and 4 others
PMID 40878840WHAT IT FOUND
Most Brazilian prenatal educational tools bury warning signs in general content rather than focusing on them.
Only five of eighteen technologies addressed risk and labor signs exclusively, limiting their usefulness for rapid decision-making.
Key findings
01Only five of the eighteen mapped educational technologies focused exclusively on signs of gestational risk or labor, with the rest embedding these signs in broader content.
02Digital resources were the most common format, accounting for 50% of the technologies, followed by printed materials at 44%.
03Clinical validations showed positive results for specific technologies, including increased knowledge about signs and greater perception of preparation for childbirth.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review excluded studies not in Portuguese, English, or Spanish, potentially missing relevant work. Non-systematic inclusion of grey literature sources beyond BDTD may have limited the identification of some technologies. The geographic concentration of studies in the Northeast and Southeast may not reflect the needs of women in other regions like the North. Few technologies had rigorous clinical validation; many relied only on content or appearance checks by experts.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study used publicly available secondary data.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume these technologies are proven effective for reducing adverse outcomes. The review mapped their existence and validation status, but only a minority had clinical trials showing positive effects, and most did not focus exclusively on the critical signs needed for rapid decision-making.