Digital Exclusion in Maternal Healthcare: Access, Inequalities and Inclusive Design in Digital Maternity Services.

Le résumé fourni par la source

This scoping review will examine digital exclusion in maternal healthcare, focusing on how digitally mediated maternity services account for the circumstances of women who may experience barriers to digital access and engagement. As maternal healthcare increasingly incorporates telehealth, mobile health applications, patient portals, remote consultations and other digital services, inequalities in device access, connectivity, affordability, digital literacy, language, privacy and accessibility may affect who can benefit from these innovations. The review will map the forms of digital exclusion affecting women during pregnancy and the postpartum period, examine how digital maternal-health interventions respond to these barriers, and identify inclusive-design approaches and remaining evidence gaps. Particular attention will be given to women experiencing multiple forms of disadvantage. Primary empirical studies published from 2020 to 2026 will be identified through PubMed/MEDLINE, CINAHL and Scopus and synthesised descriptively and thematically. The review is expected to provide evidence relevant to the development of more inclusive and equitable digital maternal-health services and to inform maternal-health researchers, healthcare providers, policymakers and digital-health developers.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.