Effect of Digital applications on maternal as well as neonatal outcomes in Young pregnant girls: A Scope Review.
Jasneet Kaur, Sheela Upendra, Shital Barde
PMID 38589307WHAT IT FOUND
Digital apps for pregnant teens showed mixed effects in nurses' maternity care: some improved stress, sleep, antenatal/postnatal care and breastfeeding, but one study found lower self-esteem and less exclusive breastfeeding.
Key findings
01The ImTeCHO cluster trial, which included home visit forms, a case details log, a work log, announcements, and an SMS information channel, reported substantial improvements in antenatal period, postnatal period, early initiation of breastfeeding, and exclusive breastfeeding.
02The New Moms Network RCT, which provided internet education and interaction with other moms and nurses, reported emergency room use of 35.7% in the intervention group and 70.6% in the control group, but lower self-esteem and less exclusive breastfeeding in the intervention group.
03Internet exposure did not necessarily prepare teens for childbirth and raised anxiety when information was fragmented, inconsistent, weakly connected, poorly referenced, and potentially confusing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This is a scoping review, not a meta-analysis, so it maps mixed findings rather than estimating a reliable effect. The included studies used different digital platforms, different populations, and different outcomes. Many outcomes were self-reported, and some studies had small samples. The review excluded non-English studies and studies without full text. The age range included both adolescents and young women up to 25, so findings may not apply to younger teens. The authors state that it is impossible to draw conclusions about their second research question. The review did not test whether nurse guidance, peer contact, or app content caused the outcomes.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that digital apps alone reliably improve maternal or neonatal outcomes. The review found mixed effects, and several interventions included nurse contact, peer interaction, or health-worker workflow tools, so the app component cannot be separated.