- Abstract -

Personal health records (PHRs) have the potential to empower people in managing their long term healthiness and in communicating effectively with their health care providers. However, currently we have only anecdotal data concerning how and why someone might use a personal health record.

Many policy and industry leaders now agree that empowerment of consumers - enhanced by convenient access to networked health information services will help drive necessary changes to the health care sector.
The objective is to give users the ability to compile electronic copies of their personal health information, including their own contributions, under a set of fair practices that respect personal preferences for how information may be collected and shared. The term "networked" implies connectivity across entities.

Pregnancy care is undergoing an evolution. The trend toward professional control and technological intervention begun decades ago is under challenge by some women's groups and health professionals, who seek to make the pregnant woman herself the decision centre. In the same period, a developing literature concerning the relation of health to psychological and social factors has demonstrated their importance and raised the issue of the place of social support and social action in health care.

Key words: Personal Health Record, Pregnancy, Design Principles.