Public health perinatal promotion during COVID-19 pandemic: a social media analysis

Toluwanimi D Durowaye; Alexandra R Rice; Anne T M Konkle; Karen P Phillips

doi:10.1186/s12889-022-13324-4

Public health perinatal promotion during COVID-19 pandemic: a social media analysis

BMC Public Health. 2022 May 5;22(1):895. doi: 10.1186/s12889-022-13324-4.

Authors

Toluwanimi D Durowaye¹, Alexandra R Rice¹, Anne T M Konkle^{1

2}, Karen P Phillips³

Affiliations

¹ Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
² University of Ottawa Brain and Mind Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
³ Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5, Canada. Karen.Phillips@uottawa.ca.

Abstract

Background: Canadian public health agencies, both municipal/regional and provincial/territorial, are responsible for promoting population health during pregnancy and the early postnatal period. This study examines how these agencies use web-based and Facebook channels to communicate perinatal health promotion during the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Perinatal health promotion content of websites and Facebook posts from a multijurisdictional and geographically diverse sample of government and non-governmental organizations (NGO) were evaluated using thematic content analysis in 2020.

Results: Major Facebook perinatal health promotion themes included breastfeeding, infant care, labor/delivery, parenting support and healthy pregnancy. Facebook COVID-19-themed perinatal health promotion peaked in the second quarter of 2020. Websites emphasized COVID-19 transmission routes, disease severity and need for infection control during pregnancy/infant care, whereas Facebook posts focussed on changes to local health services including visitor restrictions. NGO perinatal health promotion reflected organizations' individual mandates.

Conclusions: Canadian government use of Facebook to disseminate perinatal health promotion during the COVID-19 pandemic varied in terms of breadth of topics and frequency of posts. There were missed opportunities to nuance transmission/severity risks during pregnancy, thereby proactively countering the spread of misinformation.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health promotion; Perinatal care; Pregnancy; Prenatal care; Public health; Social media.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Canada / epidemiology
Female
Health Promotion
Humans
Pandemics / prevention & control
Pregnancy
Public Health
Social Media*