User experiences of a mobile mental well-being intervention among pregnant women

Abstract

Postnatal depression affects 10 to 15 percent of women after childbirth. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is associated with better mental well-being and lower levels of depression. Digital ACT solutions enable providing potentially cost-effective access to interventions. This paper reports the user experiences of an ACT-based mobile mental well-being intervention among pregnant women. Twenty-nine mothers were recruited to a 6-month study. Usage rates were collected via usage logs and user experiences via questionnaires and interviews. The total usage time of the application was about 53 min per user. The application was perceived easy to use. The most common barriers of use were: content being perceived irrelevant due to the lack of tailoring for pregnancy; lack of time; and not having the application in the personal mobile phone. The application was perceived useful by women with problems and concerns with their pregnancy, a potential target group in future.