Women registering their pregnancy in Cumbria are now some of the first across the country to have access to electronic maternity notes, all via an app.
The app, which is called ‘Maternity Notes’ and is available to download to a smartphone or tablet, helps women track their pregnancy journey, keep a note of their ante-natal appointments and upload photos of themselves, their bump and eventually their baby. It also contains lots of information about baby’s development as they move through their pregnancy, and up to six weeks post-birth. The new system is safer too, with women no longer needing to carry paper maternity notes.
Julie Haigh, Digital Midwife for NCUH who helped develop the app, said:
“I’m thrilled with how well electronic maternity notes have been received. The teams have worked hard to implement a new system that will benefit so many women across the county, and the community midwives are excited to continue the rollout. We’ve had a lot of lovely feedback from the women who have already registered, and I can’t wait to see how this will be developed in the future.”
Even women who have a smartphone but no data can use NHS WiFi at local GPs, hospitals and the like to access ‘Maternity Notes’ and, for those who don’t have a smartphone, the app can accessed on the website on home PCs or at their local library.
Since going live on 1 April, 100% of women registering a new pregnancy have signed up to the app through www.ncuh.nhs.uk/maternitybooking.
Case Study:
Marie Scougal is the mother of a 16 month old girl and currently 19 weeks pregnant with baby number two. Having had experience of a pregnancy with the paper notes and now the digital app she was keen to share her experience and encourages everyone to use the technology:
“As a mum of a 16 month and now expecting again due in October the whole process of the pregnancy journey is an exciting one.
“My first experience of the ‘Green notes’ was a complex one, the Midwife took time to make sure all the ticks were in the right place, the dates were all in the back cross referenced all the time to the computer and then being reassured by me that the details were correct. As soon as this was complete, I would transfer everything to the diary, my husband’s diary and to my phone to set an alarm a few days before any appointments to make sure my baby brain didn’t forget!
"I had to remember to take them to all my appointment whether that was the midwife the doctors or a hospital appointment. Now as a woman who loves a good ‘to do list’ (the classic pen on paper) I embraced these magical paper notes but often forgot where I had put them in the house, I remember being really organized one day only to go and leave them in the car at the hospital car park!
"So roll on to baby number two and on my first midwife appointment they introduced the new NHS App.
Electronic maternity notes now available to women across Cumbria – with case study
Women registering their pregnancy in Cumbria are now some of the first across the country to have access to electronic maternity notes, all via an app.
The app, which is called ‘Maternity Notes’ and is available to download to a smartphone or tablet, helps women track their pregnancy journey, keep a note of their ante-natal appointments and upload photos of themselves, their bump and eventually their baby. It also contains lots of information about baby’s development as they move through their pregnancy, and up to six weeks post-birth. The new system is safer too, with women no longer needing to carry paper maternity notes.
Julie Haigh, Digital Midwife for NCUH who helped develop the app, said:
“I’m thrilled with how well electronic maternity notes have been received.
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