“Being at home instead of going to the hospital is Great” − how partners experience telemonitoring of the fetal heart rate during pregnancy – A qualitative interview study

Introduction

Remote monitoring of health, also called telemonitoring, is increasingly used in maternity care. Women with complicated pregnancies are asked to monitor themselves and the fetus at home. Quantitative research indicates that telemonitoring is safe and acceptable for women, but knowledge about the partner’s role and experience of remote telemonitoring is sparse. As the partner’s role in family formation is essential, midwives need to know more about the partner’s perspective.

Aim

To explore how partners experience telemonitoring.

Methods

A qualitative interview study comprising 14 partners of women with complicated pregnancies.

Results

We created five themes: 1) Fundamental trust in the healthcare system, 2) The partner’s role, 3) Time and timing matters, 4) Usability of the technology, and 5) Being at home is great.

Discussion

The Partners experienced telemonitoring as timesaving and cost-effective. However, the partners still experienced barriers to taking time off from work; thus, some did not participate in telemonitoring at home despite their wish to attend.

Conclusion

The partners experienced both benefits and challenges with telemonitoring and found the benefits to outweigh the challenges. The partners appreciated that the pregnant woman was monitored at home, which was both time-saving and cost-effective. It saved time because the pregnant woman could stay at home, and it was cost-effective because telemonitoring allowed the partners to support their spouse without taking a day off work. Transportation and parking expenses were saved. Telemonitoring challenges included technical issues, registration deadlines, feedback timing, and managing siblings during telemonitoring.

Trial registration

UCN (J. No 219623 in the Electronic Document Management System at UCN)