A much wanted pregnancy can be a happy time, but can also be a time of anxiety and stress, especially when access to healthcare professionals is limited, such as during the current Covid 19 pandemic. Women need a way to monitor the health of their pregnancy, both of themselves and their baby, which is both reliable and gives them positive feedback when things are going well, and a warning when problems may be developing, so that they can seek professional help. Current hospital medical records systems are complex, vary from one maternity unit to another, are difficult for women to understand, and remain the property of the Secretary of State after the pregnancy. We will give women an app on their smartphone which will enable them to input data about their own pregnancy and receive immediate feedback that things are normal or if further investigation is required. It gives every woman reliable information from national guidelines as they apply to her as an individual, i.e. it is person specific and not just generalisations. Importantly, the data will be the woman's own property even after the pregnancy is over, and will be her own personal diary of events, which will also inform care in her next pregnancy. If something starts to go wrong with the pregnancy, this is highlighted in a way that she can show to her midwife/obstetrician, to stimulate appropriate care. This will help prevent problems being overlooked or managed incorrectly, which can sometimes happen. When access to professionals is limited, as in the Covid 19 pandemic, the app provides essential monitoring of the pregnancy, acts as a permanent record, and a source of reference in any emergency where the hospital records are not available.
In our market research, we are targeting a broad range of women and groups such as the BAME community. Their feedback can then create a universal appeal to the app so all women have equal access to a high standard of care and knowledge.
Being in labour is not only hard work for the mother, it can pose a significant risk to the baby. It is therefore vital that risk factors which have developed during the pregnancy are made known to the woman's caregivers so they can be taken into account when deciding if a baby should be delivered immediately if there are problems. The App provides an effective summary of these risk factors, and can highlight further risk factors that can develop during labour such as meconium staining (baby's poo in the fluid around the baby), fever, and slow progress.