Continuous remote home monitoring solutions for mother and fetus: A scoping review.

Abstract

Background Continuous remote monitoring holds the potential to improve obstetric healthcare through early detection of abnormal parameters along with associated complications. Rapid advancements in mobile technologies make this field promising for a new approach to improving the health of pregnant women and their unborn children.Objective This scoping literature review aims to present the current research stand of existing literature addressing wearables for continuous remote monitoring of pregnant women and their unborn children at home.Methods "Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis for Scoping Reviews" (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines were followed. The literature search was conducted using PubMed and Embase databases. Additionally, the reference lists of existing studies were examined for relevant literature.Results A total of 37 papers were analyzed, addressing continuous remote home monitoring of pregnant women or their fetuses. These papers showcased a diverse array of technologies with different capabilities. Continuous remote home monitoring was found to be feasible. However, several challenges were identified, including issues related to user compliance, data reliability, and the lack of addressing data security.Conclusion Continuous remote home monitoring through wearables emerges as a promising approach in obstetric healthcare. However, further investigation and research are needed, particularly focusing on larger sample sizes and more heterogeneous patient populations and addressing user compliance, data reliability, and data security.