A new Dartmouth-led study finds that pregnant individuals who were unable to have their desired emotional support persons present during childbirth were more likely to have higher levels of perceived childbirth stress than those who were not missing their support people. The findings are published in Evolution, Medicine, & Public Health.

Those receiving care then wore a GPS-based device (resembling a smartwatch) that also had an S.O.S. emergency calling function. Their caregivers downloaded a smartphone application that informed them of the location of their care recipient, set physical boundaries that triggered smartphone notifications when crossed and enabled immediate communication with care recipients who wandered.

The latest issues of three American Psychiatric Association journals, The American Journal of Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services, and Focus are now available online.