Introducing Tweetlet – twitter for pregnancy

If you think baby affects your health I'm sad to say that you need to have an abortion.

this service as a way for dads to potentially get a little bit more connected with something that _is_ happening in their partner's body but, I think, has a lot of relevance for them too! poker

I think it's a great idea !! I follow it for sure.Thanks for sharing Stef.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could use Twitter to keep up to date with how your baby is developing during pregnancy?
Well I thought so anyway, so here’s a cute little application I’ve built that does just that.
It’s called Tweetlet.
It’s easily set up - just put in your due date (when the baby is going [...]

Thanks for the post, I enjoyed reading it, keep posts like this coming!

Amber

I can potentially see a safety aspect to the tweets also, giving mum's to be good advice to look after themselves and the child. Well done mate................

I think this is great!! I will start following once I hit the end of my first trimester!!

Yes, yes, yes, I love the the idea! It's like a live pregnancy calendar and it makes the experience of expecting a baby even more beautiful. I would definitely fall for it!

Woah! Guys - I pop offline and you guys start a novel. Sheesh! Keep it to 140 characters will you :-)

@Dave - I meant Tweetlet was a bit of fun - I certainy take fatherhood issues seriously, yes, but I'm moving away from the political side these days. We have had some feedback from moms on Twitter (run a search on Tweetlet) and I'm working with mumsnet.com (who like it) to tell expectant mothers in the UK about it. I'm sure we'll find out it's value or not in due course.

potentially see a safety aspect to the tweets also, giving mum's to be good advice to look after themselves and the child. Well done mate................
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Wow - long response Tom. Sounds like a lot more than a bit of fun for you - more a political tool. My comments were observations/suggestions rather than criticisms. General advice about when's a good time to start a tweetlet would certainly be a useful addition to the site.

You're right, anyone can start a tweetlet regardless of sex, even regardless of whether they are having a baby at all. As a father of two I understand the role fathers play but I don't share your views on the way fathers are treated by institutions during pregnancy so I'm bound to differ on who should use the service.

It is a great idea but one I think that's got most potential in the Mom's market. Be useful to hear from some Mom's wouldn't it?

it is not the individual who sign's up's OWN real child speaking - it's just a database of messages that's been synched up to the pregnancy dates and represents the progress.
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the impact that fathers have on a child, and the evidence is overwhelming that the more emotionally invested the father is in the life of their child, the better the health, social. Hémorroïdes

I think Tweetlet is, at the end of the day, a bit of fun, but it could also help parents and others to feel a little closer to their child and change the process of becoming a parent (new tech can do this - for example. Ache

Brilliant idea - easy way for people of all ages/knowledge to understand what the pregancy means not just to them but to baby... sponsorship from pregancy vitamin suplements?

I agree with a lot of what Stef is saying here. Of course, the risks of miscarriage, accidents and still births are always there - for every pregnancy, but that has never stopped hundreds of mums sites offering email updates on the development of the child - people will get upset yes - they inevitably will - but there's nothing new here, and I think a simple unfollow is much easier than other provisions. I think putting a simple sentence like "Most keep pregnancy private until 12 weeks, when risk of miscarriage is lower" could help, to be honest (by the "If you're not happy" sentence?)

As Stef, I also completely disagree with limiting it to mums only. Dads are already marginalised enough by public sector services, information media and literature, medical professionals and institutions during pregnancy, the evidence suggests the this puts pressure on parental relationships (eg, men feel excluded by professionals, esp young dads, and when fathers are more involved... take long paternity leave... subsequent divorce rates are lower (up to 30%)). Personally, I couldn't support or work on anything that excluded fathers in this way. And there'd be no practical way to do this either - you can't register your gender on Twitter.

Dads have a huge impact on childrens' lives, whether nurturing and involved, absent or even violent, you cannot get away from the impact that fathers have on a child, and the evidence is overwhelming that the more emotionally invested the father is in the life of their child, the better the health, social, cognitive, educational and life outcomes for the child and that this process starts way before birth. And we know from research trials that during pregnancy, the more involved the man is in understanding the pregnancy and birth process, the better the health outcomes for the woman.

I think Tweetlet is, at the end of the day, a bit of fun, but it could also help parents and others to feel a little closer to their child and change the process of becoming a parent (new tech can do this - for example, ultrasound scan pictures have changed the emotional landscape of becoming a mother or father). As we develop it, it could also be used in an educational context (Tweetlet sending suggestions for what foods and supplements to eat, reminders to stay away from smokey atmospheres, suggestions for resources on preparing for the birth etc etc), etc.

I can see where your concerns come from, but they seem to stem from the general risks associated with all pregnancy - and all services in this sector have to navigate the territory carefully. We have midwives on the www.dad.info team and I am getting feedback and advice from them on Tweetlet, and they think it's a great idea. Of course some will disagree, but I also think that it's good to have the debate.

Also, remember, that of course, it is not the individual who sign's up's OWN real child speaking - it's just a database of messages that's been synched up to the pregnancy dates and represents the progress of a normal birth (maybe that needs to be said, Stef). Anyway, the early signs are that mums and dads both seem to like it. I guess the crowd will judge :)

Thanks for opening up the debate Dave!

Tom and I had a few long conversations about some of the risks and issues you've raised, particularly the 'unfollow' issue. We decided that that was the best way of doing it because it enables you to cancel the service from any Twitter client or via text. But that doesn't stop it being a difficult thing for a person to do in other ways. We've taken our cue from other services like weekly email updates that you have to cancel via an unsubscribe link, but yes - with this being a first person service that's a much more complex situation.

I'm open to advice and ideas on ways to tackle that in the most sensitive way.

On the 'this should be just for mums' issue though I'd disagree. This has come from my own personal circumstances going through a pregancy with Emily. I've not really been as engaged with how it's going this time around. Perhaps that's because I'm busy, maybe because this is our second child I just have a 'been there, done that' attitude, but I came up with this service as a way for dads to potentially get a little bit more connected with something that _is_ happening in their partner's body but, I think, has a lot of relevance for them too!

I didn't want to second-guess the audience, so that's why we've allowed moms, dads, relatives and 'friends of parents' to sign up. We're not sure how people will use this service, but I take your point. There are just lots of family units in the world today with unusual structures - surrogate parents, gay parents, parents-to-be that aren't in a relationship, and so on, so again I'll take advice on who to add or remove from this list!

I guess the big thing to bear in mind that this is just a service to give a small daily reminder of what's happening inside the bump. It's a fun thing, but I hope something that would be quite cool and informative to have. I know that since using it I've become a little more aware during the day of what's going on! And during the working day it's nice to have something interrupt you and remind you...

On the 3 month thing, I agree, perhaps I could actually set it up to give you a warning if you add a date within that period, or a step further, just start the date dropdown from that point?

And great suggestion about hooking up with other sites - that's why we released this as its own mini
site rather than on Odadeo, so anyone can use it without being a member.

Interesting idea but pregnancy is such a complex emotional issue I think it raises a few questions:

Does anybody other than a mother have the right to start this service on behalf of her child (it's her body after all)? This strikes me as a mom's only feature (maybe flog the idea to one of the many Mums sites?)

At what point would you expect someone to opt in? The usual point to go public is at 12 weeks, after your first scan. Maybe this needs some advice on the front page about when's a good time to use this service.

Not every pregnancy goes smoothly. God forbid something happens after you start the service. Someone has to unfollow. That's a big, big unfollow to ask people to make.

Using the first person device rather than just an advice link is of course the USP of this service but that's emotive and political in itself. But it is the thing that makes this work (and is a step up from other services) and it does appeal but it's for mom's only in my view - they carry the child around, they should decide whether it speaks or not.

Not a parent Stef, but I think it's a cool idea, would be interesting to learn about what the child to be is doing, what changes are happening etc. I can potentially see a safety aspect to the tweets also, giving mum's to be good advice to look after themselves and the child. Well done mate.