Mobile Health in Maternal and Newborn Care: Fuzzy Logic

• Main Author: Shahirose Premji
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2014-06-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: mobile phones; interpersonal relationships; social influence; mother-infant interaction; unintended harm
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/11/6/6494

Whether mHealth improves maternal and newborn health outcomes remains uncertain as the response is perhaps not true or false but lies somewhere in between when considering unintended harmful consequences. Fuzzy logic, a mathematical approach to computing, extends the traditional binary “true or false” (one or zero) to exemplify this notion of partial truths that lies between completely true and false. The commentary explores health, socio-ecological and environmental consequences–positive, neutral or negative. Of particular significance is the negative influence of mHealth on maternal care-behaviors, which can increase stress reactivity and vulnerability to stress-induced illness across the lifespan of the child and establish pathways for intergenerational transmission of behaviors. A mHealth “fingerprinting” approach is essential to monitor psychosocial, economic, cultural, environmental and physical impact of mHealth intervention and make evidence-informed decision(s) about use of mHealth in maternal and newborn care.