Engagement of Pregnant Women and Mothers over WhatsApp

Abstract

WhatsApp, the world's most popular messaging application, offers significant opportunities for people to engage with each other, share their knowledge and experiences. In this paper, we investigate the nature of engagement in three WhatsApp groups, meant for promoting maternal and child health, consisting of 364 pregnant women, 249 new mothers, and three medical practitioners. We conducted thematic analysis of data obtained from these groups. Based on our analysis - 1732 messages, 121 multimedia artifacts and discussion with the medical practitioners - we found the participants' expectation from medical practitioners, their problem of repeatedly asking similar questions and multimedia practices of participants and practitioners in the groups.