Digital guide for ‘pregnancy, birth and beyond’ launched for parents

Doctors in north-west London have developed a digital maternity guide for new parents.

Developed alongside mothers and and midwives, the Mum and Baby app provides women with NHS information on “pregnancy, birth and beyond”.

The app allows women to choose where in north west London they would like to give birth and how they wish to have their baby delivered.

It also gives access to essential information on different stages of maternity, from pregnancy to giving birth and looking after a new baby, as well as access to personalised plans of care.

It is hoped the app will improve women’s experiences of maternity care and ensure that the information they receive is consistent regardless of where they choose to give birth in the local area.

Sunita Sharma, consultant obstetrician from Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The North West London mum and baby app represents an innovative way in which these local maternity services have come together to provide women and their families with consistent NHS information on how to look after themselves and their babies in an easily accessible format. I think this is great step forward for our maternity services.”

A previous version of the app was originally created by Sharma and the maternity team at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in partnership with their charity CW+ as a postnatal information tool.

The app has now been expanded for use across North West London to include information on maternity care, pregnancy, labour and birth.

Jacqueline Dunkley-Bent, head of maternity, children and young people for NHS England, added: “This new app shows what is possible when we embrace modern technology.

“It now also means that we are able to offer personal care to women and their families in North West London by ensuring they can access information quickly and easily which will help give women and clinicians their valuable time back.”

The use of technology available for new mums appears to be on the rise.

For example, in March 2018, Public Health England (PHE) launched a new service delivering approved breastfeeding advice via Amazon’s Alexa.