The Role of Mobile Phone Technology in Medical Care During Pregnancy

Background: Due to the advantages of mobile phones including reduction in costs, patient - physician relationship and the possibility of providing services remotely, it is used widely in various aspects of health such as information and education, diagnosis and treatment, and prevention of diseases. In recent years, mobile phone technology has also been used during pregnancy to change the health behaviors, treat diseases and prevent its transformation into newborn as well as to improve interaction between pregnant women and health care systems through applications, short text message (SMS), phone call, and email. Objectives: This study was designed to demonstrate the role and utilization of mobile technology in care during pregnancy including prenatal and postnatal period and show the success rate based on published studies. Methods: This study was a systematic review. The appropriate keywords were searched in five databases to find the proper articles. The original English articles on the use of the mobile technology in pregnancy care in the 2006 – 2013 period were accepted. Objectives, methods, findings, and conclusion of the articles were considered. Frequency distribution tables and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: 24 articles met the criteria and were enrolled in the study. The results showed that the number of articles has increased over the time from 2006 to 2013. SMS was the most common (64.28%) mobile-based technology used in care during pregnancy. More than half of the studies used mobile technology in care during prenatal period. Moreover, most of the papers (91.66%) demonstrated that the mobile phone technology has played a key role in pregnancy care. Conclusion: The use of mobile phone technology has been effective in pregnancy care. Moreover, the continuous evolution of mobile technology and spreading the use of cellphone particularly in developing countries can be expand the use of mobile technology in medical care during pregnancy and be the point of an extensive development in the future.