Social media discourses on prenatal and newborn screening

This study examines public discourses on prenatal testing and newborn screening on Facebook among Italian and German users from 2013–2023. Using a computational content analysis technique – specifically Structural Topic Modelling – we identify distinct discursive healthscapes that illustrate how digital biocitizenship is articulated in the context of reproductive health issues. The analysis reveals both shared concerns and culturally specific engagements across the two contexts. Key similarities include framing reproductive health as individual responsibility and ambivalence toward biomedical authority. Notable differences emerge in the politicisation of healthcare debates, approaches to de-medicalization, and the role of popular culture in shaping perceptions. The Italian corpus emphasises policy advocacy and critiques of healthcare commodification, while the German data focuses more on affective solidarity and awareness campaigns. Both contexts reflect tensions between demands for expanded screening and resistance to over-medicalization. Digital biocitizenship manifests differently when driven by organised advocacy versus individualised engagement. Overall, the findings illustrate how social media discourses on prenatal and newborn screening reflect broader sociopolitical tensions, while highlighting divergent pathways through which individuals navigate biomedical uncertainties by blending expert and experiential knowledge. This study contributes to understanding how reproductive health issues are constructed and contested in digital public spheres.