Comments on: The Quantified Pregnancy http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/2010/02/the-quantified-pregnancy/ a blog about predictive medicine and the future of healthcare Wed, 05 Oct 2011 18:14:44 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Tweets that mention The Quantified Pregnancy | The Decision Tree -- Topsy.com http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/2010/02/the-quantified-pregnancy/comment-page-1/#comment-4673 Tweets that mention The Quantified Pregnancy | The Decision Tree -- Topsy.com Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:42:34 +0000 http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/?p=1191#comment-4673 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bertalan Meskó, MD, SusannahFox and Brian Mossop, Suganthi. Suganthi said: RT @Berci: The Quantified Pregnancy (brilliant) http://ff.im/-fBL0m [...] [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Bertalan Meskó, MD, SusannahFox and Brian Mossop, Suganthi. Suganthi said: RT @Berci: The Quantified Pregnancy (brilliant) http://ff.im/-fBL0m [...]

]]> By: Amy Romano http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/2010/02/the-quantified-pregnancy/comment-page-1/#comment-4672 Amy Romano Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:14:06 +0000 http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/?p=1191#comment-4672 Oh, I love the idea of the MedHelp trackers and think that's a fabulous way to normalize normal stuff in pregnancy, build community, and help women find effective comfort measures. I balk at the idea of extra data collection about fetal wellbeing, especially with tools like ultrasound and fetal heart rate monitoring. For the vast majority of pregnancies, having more of these kinds of data (whether the woman or the doctor/midwife control access to it) is not likely to improve outcomes, will probably worsen them, and could lead to excess anxiety. Oh, I love the idea of the MedHelp trackers and think that’s a fabulous way to normalize normal stuff in pregnancy, build community, and help women find effective comfort measures. I balk at the idea of extra data collection about fetal wellbeing, especially with tools like ultrasound and fetal heart rate monitoring. For the vast majority of pregnancies, having more of these kinds of data (whether the woman or the doctor/midwife control access to it) is not likely to improve outcomes, will probably worsen them, and could lead to excess anxiety.

]]> By: Brian Mossop http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/2010/02/the-quantified-pregnancy/comment-page-1/#comment-4671 Brian Mossop Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:37:06 +0000 http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/?p=1191#comment-4671 Hi Amy, Thanks so much for reading the post, and for your comment. You are right, more data doesn't necessarily mean better health. As Thomas pointed out in his post "<a href="http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/2009/10/smart-screening-dumb-screening/" rel="nofollow">Smart Screening & Dumb Screening</a>", we need to put medical screening in the right context when using it to make health decisions. Similarly, I believe we must put our personal health data in context as well, but I still hope that someone will find a smart way to use collective data to benefit the group. I am curious to hear which aspect of MedHelp's Pregnancy Tracker concerns you. Is it expecting mothers tracking their own symptoms? Or comparing their symptoms to others? Or both? Thanks for the dialogue! -Brian Hi Amy,

Thanks so much for reading the post, and for your comment.

You are right, more data doesn’t necessarily mean better health. As Thomas pointed out in his post “Smart Screening & Dumb Screening“, we need to put medical screening in the right context when using it to make health decisions. Similarly, I believe we must put our personal health data in context as well, but I still hope that someone will find a smart way to use collective data to benefit the group.

I am curious to hear which aspect of MedHelp’s Pregnancy Tracker concerns you. Is it expecting mothers tracking their own symptoms? Or comparing their symptoms to others? Or both?

Thanks for the dialogue!

-Brian

]]> By: Amy Romano http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/2010/02/the-quantified-pregnancy/comment-page-1/#comment-4667 Amy Romano Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:29:33 +0000 http://thedecisiontree.com/blog/?p=1191#comment-4667 I'm glad to see some recognition of childbearing women as important e-patient pioneers. I've been beating the drum for most of the past year trying to get the Participatory Medicine community to pay attention to maternity care and the maternity care folks to pay attention to Participatory Medicine. Susannah gets a periodic prod from me to start tracking internet use among pregnant women, since the last national survey of this was among women who gave birth in 2005. I think the quantified pregnancy stuff is interesting, although I have shared my reservations about applying the "more data is necessarily better" presumption to maternity care, as you can see in my comments on Susannah's original post. I think the greater potential may be in the community building and support networks, as well as grassroots advocacy for system reform. I’m glad to see some recognition of childbearing women as important e-patient pioneers. I’ve been beating the drum for most of the past year trying to get the Participatory Medicine community to pay attention to maternity care and the maternity care folks to pay attention to Participatory Medicine. Susannah gets a periodic prod from me to start tracking internet use among pregnant women, since the last national survey of this was among women who gave birth in 2005.

I think the quantified pregnancy stuff is interesting, although I have shared my reservations about applying the “more data is necessarily better” presumption to maternity care, as you can see in my comments on Susannah’s original post. I think the greater potential may be in the community building and support networks, as well as grassroots advocacy for system reform.

]]>