%0 Journal Article
%@ 2561-326X
%I JMIR Publications
%V 4
%N 7
%P e12417
%T Continuous 7-Month Internet of Things–Based Monitoring of Health Parameters of Pregnant and Postpartum Women: Prospective Observational Feasibility Study
%A Saarikko,Johanna
%A Niela-Vilen,Hannakaisa
%A Ekholm,Eeva
%A Hamari,Lotta
%A Azimi,Iman
%A Liljeberg,Pasi
%A Rahmani,Amir M
%A Löyttyniemi,Eliisa
%A Axelin,Anna
%+ School of Nursing and Department of Computer Science, University of California, 106D Berk Hall, Irvine, CA, 92697-3959, United States, 1 949 824 3590, a.rahmani@uci.edu
%K prenatal care
%K postnatal care
%K wearable electronics
%K biosensing
%K cloud computing
%K mHealth
%K physical activity
%K sleep
%K heart rate
%D 2020
%7 24.7.2020
%9 Original Paper
%J JMIR Form Res
%G English
%X Background: Monitoring during pregnancy is vital to ensure the mother’s and infant’s health. Remote continuous monitoring provides health care professionals with significant opportunities to observe health-related parameters in their patients and to detect any pathological signs at an early stage of pregnancy, and may thus partially replace traditional appointments. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of continuously monitoring the health parameters (physical activity, sleep, and heart rate) of nulliparous women throughout pregnancy and until 1 month postpartum, with a smart wristband and an Internet of Things (IoT)–based monitoring system. Methods: This prospective observational feasibility study used a convenience sample of 20 nulliparous women from the Hospital District of Southwest Finland. Continuous monitoring of physical activity/step counts, sleep, and heart rate was performed with a smart wristband for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over 7 months (6 months during pregnancy and 1 month postpartum). The smart wristband was connected to a cloud server. The total number of possible monitoring days during pregnancy weeks 13 to 42 was 203 days and 28 days in the postpartum period. Results: Valid physical activity data were available for a median of 144 (range 13-188) days (75% of possible monitoring days), and valid sleep data were available for a median of 137 (range 0-184) days (72% of possible monitoring days) per participant during pregnancy. During the postpartum period, a median of 15 (range 0-25) days (54% of possible monitoring days) of valid physical activity data and 16 (range 0-27) days (57% of possible monitoring days) of valid sleep data were available. Physical activity decreased from the second trimester to the third trimester by a mean of 1793 (95% CI 1039-2548) steps per day (P<.001). The decrease continued by a mean of 1339 (95% CI 474-2205) steps to the postpartum period (P=.004). Sleep during pregnancy also decreased from the second trimester to the third trimester by a mean of 20 minutes (95% CI –0.7 to 42 minutes; P=.06) and sleep time shortened an additional 1 hour (95% CI 39 minutes to 1.5 hours) after delivery (P<.001). The mean resting heart rate increased toward the third trimester and returned to the early pregnancy level during the postpartum period. Conclusions: The smart wristband with IoT technology was a feasible system for collecting representative data on continuous variables of health parameters during pregnancy. Continuous monitoring provides real-time information between scheduled appointments and thus may help target and tailor pregnancy follow-up. 
%M 32706696
%R 10.2196/12417
%U http://formative.jmir.org/2020/7/e12417/
%U https://doi.org/10.2196/12417
%U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32706696