A description of how B.C. midwives communicate on social media

Abstract

Social media use by healthcare practitioners is growing and due to the nature of these professions, it is important to understand how social media is being used and what potential issues there may be in communicating on these platforms. I surveyed registered and practicing midwives in B.C. to understand what social media platforms they are using and how they communicate with their colleagues and clients. While many midwives have personal social media accounts, they are concerned about personal privacy and do not share much information. All midwifery practices have a website and most have a public Facebook page. Midwives predominately use Facebook to communicate with their clients and are conscious of what information they share on what platform and establishing personal boundaries when using social media or text-messaging.