An Interactive Informed Consent and Education Program for Pregnant Women

Women face a variety of medical decisions during pregnancy and childbirth. While there are extensive educational resources for pregnant women, modern medicine presents decisions that many women are poorly equipped to make. Issues such as prenatal screening and mode of birth after a cesarean delivery require a significant degree of patient education to enable a truly informed medical decision. Studies have shown that women have a poor understanding of screening for birth defects and mode of birth after a cesarean delivery. Women with a low level of education or poor health literacy are significantly more likely to demonstrate inadequate understanding of prenatal screening. ArchieMD, Inc. has developed a comprehensive interactive medical simulation environment which has the potential to visually convey complex information to patients to improve understanding of medical procedures and educate patients on the consequences of their behavior. We hypothesize that such an interactive medical simulation patient education program can improve patient understanding allowing pregnant women to make informed decisions. In Phase I, we will prototype an interactive patient education program for prenatal screening and amniocentesis.