Sonio, the MedTech company specializing in women’s and children’s health, publishes the results of its study “Pregnancy as seen by the couple”. Sonio wanted to understand how pregnancy is experienced today by women and men by questioning the practical aspect: availability of appointments, technical equipment, and expectations regarding follow-up; as emotional: anxiety, the trust placed in the practitioner, support from the partner, during this important period.
The study commissioned by Sonio highlights a lack of accessibility to perinatal care: Overall, 44% of pregnant women did not benefit from sufficient accessibility of care to choose their practitioner and 22% had to change practitioners between their pregnancy follow-up ultrasounds if no appointments were available.
The results also reveal inequalities in care:
From the point of view of socio-professional categories: CSP + pregnant women are five times less concerned by the problem of geographical distance (5%) than CSP – pregnant women (25%). They are also almost twice as concerned by the lack of available appointments (27%) as CSP+ women (16%).
The Paris region is much more spared by the lack of accessibility to care: only 5% of women from Paris did not have the choice of practitioner for their follow-up compared to 11% of women from small towns, 12% in other large French cities, 15% in rural communities and 18% in medium-sized towns.
Although one in two women are not fully satisfied with their pregnancy follow-up, and more than half of women (56%) believe that there is a lack of time allocated to support, these unsatisfied needs do not seem to alter women’s confidence in their practitioner.
69% of them prioritize trust in their caregiver and their recommendations when choosing the practitioner who will perform their ultrasounds
and if 30% of women are anxious when going to their ultrasounds, 81% leave more reassured.
Furthermore, the study highlights significant demand and unmet needs in terms of mental health and well-being during pregnancy follow-up: nearly ⅓ of women would have liked to have access to other medical professionals, such as dietitians, sophrologists, osteopaths, or even psychologists.
Pregnant women and partners agree on the fundamental points raised in this report, in particular on the lack of time allocated to support (24%). However, partners seem more sensitive than pregnant women to the technical and practical aspects during the ultrasound, which is moreover more decisive for them in terms of feeling like parents for the first time (24% compared to 14%):
While pregnant women feel more anxiety than partners when going to ultrasounds (30% versus 21%), they seem to have more expectations during the exam, with only 40% estimating that it does not there was nothing to improve, compared to 54% of pregnant women.
They attach more importance to the doctor’s technical equipment than women (12% versus 2%) and are also more attached to the issue of costs incurred during follow-up (8% versus 2%).
There is also a difference in perception regarding partner involvement: 61% of men say they attended all the ultrasounds while 44% confirm this.
Some of the key figures this study outlines are:
- One in two women (48%) are not fully satisfied with their pregnancy monitoring
- More than half of women (56%) believe that the exam could have taken longer or that their caregiver could have taken more time
- 44% of pregnant women did not benefit from sufficient accessibility to health care to choose their ultrasound practitioner
- Nearly ⅓ of women would have liked to have access to other medical professionals
- CSP + pregnant women are five times less affected by the problem of geographical distance than CSP -, highlighting socio-economic disparities in access to health care during pregnancy
- Nearly ⅓ of women performed half or more of their pregnancy follow-up ultrasounds without being accompanied by their partner
- Partners attach more importance to the doctor’s technical equipment (12% versus 2%)
About Sonio:
Sonio AI-enhanced¹ software empowers ultrasound practitioners and readers. Sonio assists them in performing every prenatal examination to their highest quality standards, ensuring the completeness of each examination, streamlining their workflow, and in prenatal diagnosis. Sonio is based on over five years of research and collaboration between leading experts in fetal medicine and AI.
¹AI-enhancement is provided by FDA 510(k) cleared Sonio Detect product and through Sonio Expert
To learn more about Sonio, visit https://sonio.ai/us/.
The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.
