Research Article
Volume 2 Issue 2 - 2018
An Observational Study on Podcasts in Obstetrics- are they Available and Adequately Explored?
M Namita*, G Gupta and S Amit
Department of Neonatology, SGPGIMS, India
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Namita Mishra, Senior Resident, Department of Neonatology, PMSSY block, SGPGIMS, Raibareilly road, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Received: April 30, 2018; Published: May 15, 2018
Abstract
This observational study was done to identify presently available podcasts in the field of obstetrics. Total number of 3304 podcasts were retrieved on Google search covering various fields including common obstetric conditions, obstetric emergencies, selected topics from renowned journals, lectures for medical students and expecting mothers. These podcasts were produced by medical professionals, students as well as mothers themselves. There is not much literature published currently on use and efficacy of the podcasts. More podcasts need to be produced on holistic approach to pregnancy.
Keywords: Podcasts; Obstetrics; Obstetrician; Pregnant women; Perinatology; Neonatology
Introduction
Medical professionals have been using internet services since years for various purposes including searching literature, getting guidelines, videos and images. Professional exploration of internet is on rise. Professionals have recently started using mobile apps for getting easy, effective and concise information on various aspects in the medical field. Podcasts and blog posts are the newer tools. Podcasts are defined as audio and video files that are available online to provide knowledge in various fields. They are easily available which one can listen even while driving, eating, cooking, exercising and daily chores, thus requiring no extra time.
Podcasts when combined with other methods have been found to be better for student teaching than the lectures in terms of knowledge acquisition and retention [1]. There are several podcasts available in the field of obstetrics which are useful for the medical professionals, pregnant women and students appearing for examinations. However one is not knowledgeable about availability and relevance of these podcasts. To address this research question and filling the gap in knowledge this observational study was done with the aim to identify various podcasts available in the field of obstetrics and to provide relevant information both for health professionals and pregnant women.
Materials and Methods
This was an observational study conducted over a period of 15 days. Google search was done using search words podcasts, obstetrics, obstetrician, pregnant women and expecting mother. All the results with the above mentioned search words were retrieved. Sample size was determined by the number of podcasts available on google. After searching the podcasts, they were further categorized into certain broad groups according to their content and probable users. Available number of podcasts in each broad groups was further formulated in a tabular form as mentioned in results. No consent was required for the present study
Ethical issues: None
Results and Discussion
A total number of 3304 relevant podcasts were retrieved on search. The podcasts were categorized into certain groups depending upon their content and probable user as displayed in Tables 1 and 2 respectively.
Division Podcast groups Total Number
Lectures
  1. Final Frca Obstetrics - 5
  2. FLAME podcasts- 50
  3. Rapid O&G Podcasts- 6
  4. Short Podcasts on Obstetrics- 6
  5. UNC OB-GYN Clinic Notes podcast - 11
  6. ORIEnT: Obstetric Resident Improved Education and Teaching- 6
  7. OB-GYN to Go-12
  8. 8. Pimped: Ob/Gyn- 11
107
Emergencies
  1. MedEd- 37
  2. Emergency medicine cases- 7
  3. Crozier intensive care obstetrics-1
  4. Obsgynaecritcare-22
67
Common obstetric issues
  1. Obstetric HDU Leeds-12
  2. ObGyn.nt-1
  3. OBGYN-101 Gray Haired Notes-8
  4. Academic OB/GYN Podcast-38
  5. Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Midwifery-1
  6. Podcasts for Maternity Care at Saddleback Medical Center-7
  7. Contemporary Ob/Gy-2
  8. The Ob/Gyn Podcast- 9
78
Instruments
  1. Obstetrics - The Running Obstetrician-9
9
Websites
  1. CDC-6
  2. Medscape Ob/Gyn& Women's Health Podcast-6
12
Journals
  1. American Journal of Perinatology-56
  2. BCOG-39
  3. RCOG-5
  4. Obstetrics & Gynecology (Green journal)-editor’s view and perspective-75
175
For generalists and primary care doctor 1. Bits and Bumps Podcast- 15 15
Multispecialty
  1. 1.Open education database-3
  2. Pediatrix University Grand Rounds – Audio-10
  3. Core EM-1
  4. PLP podcasts- details NA
14
Others
  1. Podcast Archive- Bahtiyar lab-1
  2. Healthone ems podcast - obstetrics and field deliveries- 1
  3. Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health podcast- 6
  4. Neurostories-6
  5. Dr. Chapa’s ObGyn Clinical Pearls -17
  6. Women's Healthcast-1
  7. Women's Health Review - Elm Tree Medical-2
  8. Take Aurally-14
  9. Star legacy foundation-32
  10. Really Rural Surgery and Obstetrics-9
  11. Radio shows- Dr. D Radio – wsRadio.com-30
  12. Virtual Grand Rounds in Obstetric Anesthesia- 299
  13. A podcast of mothers' stories of childbirth-  55
  14. The free birth podcast- 44
  15. Conversations in Obstetrics and Gynecology- 7
  16. Free Birth - Exploring Autonomy in Childbirth explicit-48
  17. Women's Health cast- 1
  18. Dr. Katie Smith: OBGYN and Faculty Development- 6
579
Expecting mothers
  1. Taking back birth-134
  2. Well actually-11
  3. Pregnancy perfect – 74
  4. Mama bear at home-7
  5. Pregnancy confidential- 32
  6. Pregnancy podcast-127
  7. The healthy pregnancy healthy baby podcast-21
  8. Pea in the podcast-75
  9. PregTASTIC- 250
  10. Preggie pals-136
  11. Birthful- 172
  12. Common sense pregnancy-125
  13. The birth hour-265
  14. Baby in bloom-10
  15. Bellies to birthcast- 8
  16. 40 weeks pregnancy podcast-42
  17. Not by accident-32
  18. Doing it at home-139
  19. Healthy birth happy baby-117
  20. Free birth-50
  21. Fourth trimester-56
  22. Birth with joy-22
  23. Fear free child birth-60
  24. Rockstar birth radio-36
  25. Pregnancy meditation-14
  26. Pregnancy, birth and beyond-233
2248
Table 1: Distribution of obstetrics podcasts.
Type of User Number of Podcast groups
Medical professionals 41
Students 8
Primary care doctors 1
Expecting mothers 26
Table 2: Distribution according to the probable user.
Podcasts have been gaining popularity in the medical education. They are being increasingly used by medical professionals, students and also the common people. However, there is paucity of literature on the efficacy of the podcasts. Schreiber., et al. found no difference between live lectures versus video podcasts in terms of knowledge acquisition [2], while Back., et al. in a recent randomized controlled trial mentioned that podcast users scored significantly higher in a post-test evaluation compared to text-based users [3].
Another randomized controlled trial in 2018 on knowledge retention and usage conditions in undergraduates using podcasts and blog posts found both to be useful for extracurricular knowledge acquisition with podcasts users being able to engage in multiple activities while using the learning material [4]. Apps in obstetrics and gynecology have been recently reviewed by Gupta., et al. and their relevance have been observed [5]. But there are not many available articles about obstetrics podcasts. This study is an extensive review of the obstetrics podcasts.
Most common topics which are covered in these podcasts are pregnancy induced hypertension, post-partum hemorrhage, gestational diabetes, puerperal sepsis, preterm deliveries and vaginal and caesarean deliveries. Some journals present selected topics from their journal periodically in the form of podcasts. The podcasts meant for teaching students can be improved by presenting in an interview style so as to engage them more. Pregnant women also have lot of apprehension regarding various issues related to their pregnancy like common pregnancy symptoms, growth of fetus, emergency situations like pregnancy induced hypertension, mode of delivery related issues and care of their newborns. Several mother friendly podcasts are available which can be used by expecting mothers and remain fully informed about their pregnancy. More podcasts need to be developed for common pregnancy issues like diet, increased requirement of dietary supplements, pregnancy exercises, yoga, meditation, anemia, hypothyroidism and daily fetal movement count.
Conclusion
The present study suggests that large numbers of relevant podcasts are available in obstetrics for medical professionals, students and pregnant women. However these podcasts still need to be adequately exploited for improving obstetric care. There is need to have more evidence for assessing the efficacy of podcasts. This also brings out the necessity of having podcasts from various regions of world and customized according to the local population.
Podcasts for students should be designed in a manner which engages students more for example in an interviewing style. Podcasts need to be developed on holistic approach to pregnancy like pregnancy exercises, yoga, meditation, preparing for normal labor, breast feeding and kangaroo mother care. Podcasts sanctity will enhance knowledge acquisition and scientific practice in obstetrics and medicine.
References
  1. Raupach T., et al. “Moving knowledge acquisition from the lecture hall to the student home: a prospective intervention study”. Journal of Medical Internet Research 17.9 (2015): e223.
  2. Schreiber., et al. “Live lecture versus video podcast in undergraduate medical education: a randomised controlled trial”. BMC Medical Education 10 (2010): 68.
  3. Back DA., et al. “Superior gain in knowledge by podcasts versus text-based learning in teaching orthopedics: A randomized controlled trial”. Journal of Surgical Education 74 (2017):154–160.
  4. Lien K., et al. “A Randomized Comparative Trial of the Knowledge Retention and Usage Conditions in Undergraduate Medical Students Using Podcasts and Blog Posts”. Cureus 10.1 (2018): e2065.
  5. Gupta G. et al. “Current Status of Apps in Smartphone of Obstetrics &Gynecology, an Observational Study”. Obstetrics & Gynecology International Journal 7.5 (2017): 00261.
Citation: Namita Mishra., et al. “An Observational Study on Podcasts in Obstetrics- are they Available and Adequately Explored?” Gynaecology and Perinatology 2.2 (2018): 242-246.
Copyright: © 2018 SK Kathpalia., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.