title: The use of a perinatal internet consultation forum in Israel.
abstract: To analyse the use of a free, public, perinatal internet consultation service, 2000 consultations provided by university hospital staff were evaluated over 30 months. Ninety five percent of the questioners were women, and 62% of them were primiparous. The average response rate was 2.3 audience responses per question. Fifty-two percent of the consultations were related to labour and delivery, 23% were related to pregnancy complications, 16% were related to prenatal diagnosis, and 7% were related to the puerperium period. We conclude that medical consultation forums provide an additional way of delivering inexpensive, accessible, fast, and convenient healthcare services.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel. mankuta@yahoo.com
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mankuta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vinker
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shapira
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Laufer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shveiky
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007557:Israel; D018743:Perinatal Care / Q000379:methods*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000628:therapy*; D019114:Remote Consultation / Q000379:methods*