Hans van den Heuvel

7 Table 4. Quotes illustrating interviewee perspectives on autonomy and responsibilities of patients. Topic Quotes Being informed I experienced that I thought I was going to measure hypertension because I felt a headache, but then I didn’t measure anything abnormal. That is odd. But exactly because of such experiences, I consider it beneficial to be able to measure, because it provided objective information to really judge it. Because I find it difficult to determine what is the matter, simply by how I feel. (P8) I then understood, you know, why they [health care professionals] ask you all these questions and that these are relevant. Because of the symptom score list or due to hypertension and related symptoms of preeclampsia, that I became aware that once you experience such symptoms, you shouldn’t think it’s normal, but that you have to inform health care professionals. (P2) Information for lifestyle It is information, you know. I had to take care of my activity level; when I did not measure hypertension, I would go outside for example. […]. And in case I would measure hypertension, I would take it easy and ask my husband to take care of the children. It provides information relevant for such activities. That was very helpful. (P8) Responsibilities [..] but it is also your own responsibility, the responsibility of the mother or the pregnant woman. Not only because you know your body best, but also because you become aware of aspects because of this research study. And then it’s my responsibility to discuss it with the health care professional. (P2) Control You both have access to the information. What I see in my overview, the physician can also see, so you can also look at it together. I got the impression that more deliberation is possible, that you do it together like how should I interpret this and the physician can explain it for example. (P8) Theme 3: Autonomy and Responsibility of Patients Quantitative Analysis Respondents of the questionnaires were positive about their role within the blended care approach. The majority of the participants felt they were given sufficient opportunity to draw on their own knowledge and experience (40/51, 77%) and to decide about the kind of care they receive (43/52, 83%). Furthermore, they felt they were given enough opportunity to do what they were capable of doing themselves (47/52, 90%). However, only half of the participants (26/52, 50%) felt like they were given enough opportunity to arrange and organize prenatal care themselves. Some (30/52, 57%) would like even more influence in clinical decision making and felt that health care professionals are sometimes too quick to deny a possibility. A minority of the participants (21/52, 40%) felt like they had a say in deciding when the care was provided. Qualitative Analysis Interviewparticipants noted two dimensions related to patient autonomy. First, all interview participants (11/11) mentioned that mHealth helped to be informed about HDP. Insights on blood pressure over time, as displayed in a trend line in their app, was especially considered to be informative (6/11; all parous). Such information raised awareness about the symptoms USER EXPERIENCES OF BLOOD PRESSURE TELEMONITORING IN PREGNANCY 111