Pregnancy web chat ‘too much detail’

Two in five people believe that pregnant women “overshare” details on websites such as Facebook, according to a poll by Netmums and the Department of Health’s Start4Life campaign.

Nine in 10 of those surveyed said they had seen an image online of a friend’s scan and 22 per cent said they had viewed a photo of a positive pregnancy test.

More than two thirds of people felt that mothers-to-be were more likely to try to show a ‘perfect’ pregnancy than a realistic one, according to the survey of 2,000 Netmums members on Facebook.

And 62 per cent said they felt friends were more likely to talk about trivial aspects of their pregnancy rather than important matters such as their health.

Now Start4Life is distributing two million free booklets and is encouraging mothers-to-be to share information about their health both on and offline.

Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter, who used to work as a hospital gynaecologist, said: “The sheer volume of information available to pregnant women – on Facebook and elsewhere – can make it hard to find the best advice. Start4Life will help them to take simple steps to stay healthy.”

Netmums founder Siobhan Freegard added: “It’s never good to worry too much about what people think, so we encourage mums to make the most out of initiatives such as Start4Life.”