title: Online medicine for pregnant women.
abstract: Objective. To assess the use of cell phones and email as means of communication between pregnant women and their gynecologists and family physicians. Study Design. A cross-sectional study of pregnant women at routine followup. One hundred and twenty women participated in the study. Results. The mean age was 27.4 ± 3.4 years. One hundred nineteen women owned a cell phone and 114 (95%) had an email address. Seventy-two women (60%) had their gynecologist's cell phone number and 50 women (42%) had their family physician's cell phone number. More women contacted their gynecologist via cell phone or email during pregnancy compared to their family physician (P = 0.005 and 0.009, resp.). Most preferred to communicate with their physician via cell phone at predetermined times, but by email at any time during the day (P < 0.0001). They would use cell phones for emergencies or unusual problems but preferred email for other matters (P < 0.0001). Conclusions. Pregnant women in the Negev region do not have a preference between the use of cell phones or email for medical consultation with their gynecologist or family physician. The provision of the physician's cell phone numbers or email address together with the provision of guidelines and resources could improve healthcare services.
authors.affiliation: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Davidesko
authors.affiliation: Division of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Soroka Medical Center, P.O. Box 151, 84101 Beer-Sheva, Israel ; Women Health Center, Clalit Health Services, Southern District, Henrietta Szold 1, 89428 Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Segal
authors.affiliation: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer-Sheva, Israel ; The Department of Family Medicine and Siaal Research Center for Family Practice and Primary Care, Division of Community Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer-Sheva, Israel.
authors.forename: Roni
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4855-2141
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Peleg