More first-time moms surfing Google for pregnancy queries

New York: The Google search engine has come to the rescue of would-be moms. According to researchers, more and more first-time mothers are using the internet to seek answers to their queries related to pregnancies.

"We found that first-time moms were upset that their first prenatal visit did not occur until eight weeks into pregnancy," said Jennifer L Kraschnewski, an assistant professor of medicine at Penn State University`s college of medicine. "These women reported using Google and other search engines because they had a lot of questions at the beginning of pregnancy, before their first doctor`s appointment," she added. Following the women`s first visit to the obstetrician, many of them still turned to the internet to find answers to their questions because they felt the doctor`s advise was insufficient and the literature outdated. The researchers conducted four focus groups, totalling 17 pregnant women - all of whom were over 18 and owned a smartphone. Most of the mothers-to-be agreed that the structure of prenatal visits are not responsive to their individual needs. So they turned to technology to fill their knowledge gaps. "We have found that there is a real disconnect between what we`re providing in the office and what the patient wants," Kraschnewski noted. The study was published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research.