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Online Communication of Obstetric Hospital Websites: Analyzing Presence and Absence to Rethink Audience

This study is an analysis of seven obstetric websites. Through rhetorical theory and the framework of presence and absence, I demonstrate that by limiting the audience to expectant mothers and not including fathers, these websites do little to inform fathers who are physically and emotionally a part of the birth experience. Furthermore, the absence of fathers as audience promotes outdated gender roles and demonstrates that these websites have failed to evolve in a modern context. By the end of this presentation, conference participants will see how rhetorical theory serves to reveal gaps on hospital websites. These gaps mean only one side of a birthing narrative is communicated to expectant couples. Conference participants will see the benefits of analyzing audience and including a complete or universal audience when designing online communication.