Expectant parents today use online tools for health advice in the same way their parents once tore the pages of the What to expect series of books.
But a new study has found that it’s new mums who most often devour digital parenting advice – while dads-to-be rely on their female partners to sift through and organize the information for them.
The result: online parenting sources have become a perennially pink domain aimed primarily at new mothers, and only for new dads.
The paper, ‘Let me know when I’m needed,‘ published in the journal Digital health, examines who, early in the parenting journey, seeks health advice online and where they find it.
“Our study identifies how digital technology can reinforce and entrench stereotypical parenting roles. Usually the mum-to-be finds the health information and then saves it for the dad – and that’s not necessarily in the best interests of the baby or either parent,” said nursing professor Lorie. Donelle, one of the study’s lead researchers. Transitioning to Parenthood in the Context of Digital Health to study.
Gender-specific apps
The study recruited couples who had become new parents in the previous 24 months and asked them to describe the type of technologies they and their partners used during their transition to parenthood.
Study participants, all heterosexual women, primarily used digital technologies to find a supportive community and seek health information regarding ovulation tracking, fetal development, infant feeding, infant health, developmental milestones and maternal health.
Lorie Donelle, Western Nursing Professor
A key finding, Donelle said, is that gender bias is often baked into popular parenting apps, from preconception to postpartum.
“Almost all of them are very “feminine”. Even the color schemes are yellow or pink and have flowers.
By contrast, the few apps and sites available aimed at men often seek out humor and traditionally masculine symbols (one app describes it as “guy-friendly” updates, while another promises “less fine detail on the female parts”).
Where “mom” apps might have detailed descriptions of fetal anatomical growth and neurological development, for example, a dad app uses sports balls to compare fetal size.
“Fathers, in our view, do not appear to be well supported in the parenting preparation apps we reviewed,” noted Donelle, professor and Arthur Labatt Family Chair in Nursing at the Arthur Labatt School of Nursing at Western School of Health Sciences. .
Accountability and Expectations
Expectant mothers also noted a gender bias, even in site-curated images of manicured mothers cradling cooing newborns.
“Participants said, ‘This (information) is filled with societal expectations of what defines a good mother and good mothering. A good mother is supposed to seek information about her health and that of her baby.
“But they didn’t think their partner had the same responsibility for health and information gathering,” Donelle said.
One participant said her partner asked her to find and pass on relevant information and let him know when he was needed for anything.
Another said she sent her partner “a lot of articles and they just got lost in her inbox.”
The article suggests that more than indifference is at play: expectant fathers often don’t see themselves represented in the available resources, or they think father-focused resources aren’t as serious or as trustworthy as apps or mother-oriented sites.
Paradoxically, then, the digital technologies that support women in their transition to parenthood end up perpetuating their role as seekers and curators of health information.
“To fully engage all parents”
The study group’s gender imbalance illustrates part of the problem, Donelle said. “Our call to recruit parents was open to all parents – and only mothers responded (initially). We had to work especially hard to find even a few participating fathers.
The other notable point, Donelle said, is that entire families sometimes rely on the veracity of online advice, not realizing that it may come from a variety of sources with vested interests.
“Many of our participants use this information online in addition to or in the absence of information immediately available from a healthcare professional.
“There are so many apps and tools out there that it’s really hard to sift through the tsunami of information to find what’s right.”
She said the study was not about judging technology, but understanding how technology — whether it’s phone apps or baby monitors — can be more supportive for parents and children.
“We need to be aware of what these digital tools tell us about parents’ expectations. And we must fully involve all parents. All parents need to see themselves reflected in the information available.
The study’s co-authors also include Bradley Hiebert, Jodi Hall, Kim Jackson and Ewelina Stoyanovich, researchers from the School of Nursing, and Danica Facca from the School of Information and Media Studies at Western. .