"let me know if you need anything": support realities of new mothers

Abstract

This paper presents findings from a study conducted with 48 pregnant and new mothers to understand their support needs and support sources. We engaged 10 first-time pregnant women, 20 pregnant mothers, and 18 new mothers in eight weeks of research activities using closed Facebook groups. The activities included surveys, open ended questions, creative tasks, and discussions. Our findings indicate that mothers most value instrumental support: physical help in tasks, such as laundry and cooking. Our findings also show that support needs and support sources of women evolve as they go through pregnancy, childbirth, and stages of motherhood. Informed by these findings, we propose a design framework - the Evolving Ecology of Support (EES) - and provide examples on how the Pervasive Health community can develop empowering and support enabling solutions.