My focus was on Health, and how through the internet, pregnant women are empowered by the information they now have access to. I received a credit for this essay.
Throughout the course of their life women experience many health related changes from puberty to menopause and potentially pregnancy. This essay will analyse how women accessing Internet sites providing information on pregnancy has the potential to alter the way in which women experience and understand pregnancy. It will argue that pregnancy experiences change for women when they are able to access online material directed towards expectant mothers that are diverse and that enable women to gather up and redefine their pregnancy experiences in empowering ways. Women are at the forefront of information gathering online, research showing that women are more likely than men to search for health-related information (Sarkadi & Bremberg, 2005). Haythornthwaite (2002) explains that the Internet has indeed been routinely incorporated into almost every aspect of business, educational and leisure activities. This incorporation of activities is one aspect of how everyday life is being experienced through the Internet-mediated activities of information and communication.
Pregnancy is part of everyday life. As a mother and/or parent the period of pregnancy is spent furnishing for a life role not currently inhabited. The nine months of gestation is a time of creating a new 'habitus' (Fiske, 2002) as a parent, a mother. Through communicating and collaborating in online communities, one is able to create an online identity of a pregnant women, through 'the weaving of one's own richly textured life within the constraints of economic depravation and oppression’ (Fiske, 2002, p160). Thus reaching out to other women who are also using the Internet to begin ‘constructing, and therefore exerting some control over, social identities and social relations' (Fiske, 2002, p160). To an extent, a mother to be, regardless of economic status, creates an idea, creates the outlines of the life they want for their child, and that they want to lead as a parent. They are using the online tools available to them to extend control their pregnancy and collaborating with other women who are undergoing the same changes to their everyday lives.
Online communities are a source of collaborative reassurance for many pregnant women. They enable women to communicate across physical boundaries, time zones and cultural differences. Through online communities, many women form online mothers groups with whom they continue to communicate with beyond the end of their pregnancy. (Ley, 2003) Online social networks and communities also have the potential to disempower women through the creation of unnecessary stress. Women experience their pregnancies differently and have a myriad of conditions and histories that contribute to the way they experience pregnancy. In this instance, not all information shared is information that empowers. Being able to communicate with other women online does allow the opportunity to engage in relatively anonymous discourse with other women experiencing pregnancy at the same time. This discourse enables ritualization of particular milestones throughout pregnancy, such as discovering the sex of the child and discussing symptoms. (Wu Song et al, 2012)
The Internet and its applications hold the collective intelligence of all who use them. It is this information online that many women search to access while pregnant. Through the collective knowledge of many, women are embracing the empowerment of gathering information about the changes occurring within them during pregnancy. Collective intelligence may be powerful, persuasive and formed through global collaboration; however, this is information is not individualized. Eyesenbach (2008, p3) states ‘the health professional is an expert in identifying disease, while the patient is an expert in experiencing it’ (Davidson & Pennebaker, 1997). Recognising that the consumer of healthcare is the expert in experiencing their condition empowers one to take control of their health, however, limiting professional contact in exchange for online access to unendorsed information has the potential to negatively affect a woman’s pregnancy journey. Pregnant women are discovering information online that they perceive to be reliable but are not always choosing to discuss these findings with a health professional during scheduled antenatal appointments (Larsson, 2007). The information gap between face-to-face discussions and that gained from online searches needs to be minimized, limiting the amount of irrelevant and potentially harmful information pregnant women believe. Patients want their health professionals to provide them with guidance on useful Internet sites regarding their specific health problems (Salo et al., 2003), ensuring that collaborative discussions form part of each visit with a medical professional will assist women in making empowered decisions throughout their pregnancy.
Due to work outside of the home commitments and living far from family members, women who are pregnant have less time and fewer opportunities to receive support from offline friends and family (Ley, 2007). These changes from local family based communities to global online communities help fill the void for emotional support. It is the process of validation within a like-minded community that is a major source of this support (Lowe et al, 2009). Online-communities also help to share the anecdotal information that is traditionally passed between women during the time of pregnancy. This anecdotal information is often not medically endorsed, however, being involved in familial discourse may help a pregnant women self monitor her pregnancy and provide a feeling of reassurance and empowerment in decision making throughout her pregnancy. The opportunity to collaborate online with a midwife or other endorsed medical professional would add an endorsed layer to the advantages of online intelligence.
Nettleton, Burrows & O’Malley (2005) have shown that consumer use of the Internet supports the idea of media convergence, in which traditional trusted information givers (in this case official health information sites) are highly valued online. In part, due to this, the Internet has become a valuable source of information and support for pregnant women as they navigate the changes in their everyday lives. Decision-making processes for women are enhanced when they are able to access online material directed towards expectant mothers that are diverse, enabling them to redefine their pregnancy experience in empowering ways. The information that is retrieved online ‘should then be discussed during antenatal care visits to ensure that new knowledge generates understanding, empowerment and a sound preparation for childbirth and parenthood’ (Larsson, 2005, p19). The support of online communities is invaluable, particularly for those without an offline support group in close physical proximity. Through the Internet-mediated activities of information and communication pregnant women are empowered to access the Internet for information and support throughout their pregnancy.
Reference List
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Sarkadi, A., Bremberg, S., 2005. Socially unbiased parenting support on the Internet: a cross-sectional study of users of a large Swedish parenting website. Child: Care, Health & Development, 31(1), 43–52.
Wu Song, F, Ellis West, J, Lundy, L & Dahmen, N., (2012) Women, Pregnancy, and Health Information Online: The Making of Informed Patients and Ideal Mothers. Gender & Society doi:10.1177/0891243212446336
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