Page, Abigail E;
Emmott, Emily H;
Sear, Rebecca;
Perera, Nilushka;
Black, Matthew;
Elgood-Field, Jake;
Myers, Sarah;
(2025)
Collecting real-time infant feeding and support experience: co-participatory pilot study of mobile health methodology.
International Breastfeeding Journal
, 20
, Article 23. 10.1186/s13006-025-00707-7.
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Abstract
Background: Breastfeeding rates in the UK have remained stubbornly low despite long-term intervention efforts. Social support is a key, theoretically grounded intervention method, yet social support has been inconsistently related to improved breastfeeding. Understanding of the dynamics between infant feeding and social support is currently limited by retrospective collection of quantitative data, which prohibits causal inferences, and by unrepresentative sampling of mothers. In this paper, we present a case-study presenting the development of a data collection methodology designed to address these challenges. / Methods: In April–May 2022 we co-produced and piloted a mobile health (mHealth) data collection methodology linked to a pre-existing pregnancy and parenting app in the UK (Baby Buddy), prioritising real-time daily data collection about women's postnatal experiences. To explore the potential of mHealth in-app surveys, here we report the iterative design process and the results from a mixed-method (explorative data analysis of usage data and content analysis of interview data) four-week pilot. / Results: Participants (n = 14) appreciated the feature’s simplicity and its easy integration into their daily routines, particularly valuing the reflective aspect akin to journaling. As a result, participants used the feature regularly and looked forward to doing so. We find no evidence that key sociodemographic metrics were associated with women’s enjoyment or engagement. Based on participant feedback, important next steps are to design in-feature feedback and tracking systems to help maintain motivation. / Conclusions: Reflecting on future opportunities, this case-study underscores that mHealth in-app surveys may be an effective way to collect prospective real-time data on complex infant feeding behaviours and experiences during the postnatal period, with important implications for public health and social science research.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Collecting real-time infant feeding and support experience: co-participatory pilot study of mobile health methodology |
| Location: | England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1186/s13006-025-00707-7 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s13006-025-00707-7 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. |
| Keywords: | Human-centred design, Infant feeding, Social support, MHealth, Co-production |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Dept of Anthropology |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10212139 |
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