A new maternity app is empowering pregnant women in North Lancashire and South Cumbria to make informed decisions about their maternity care.
Around 550 women have access to the app, which can be downloaded onto any smartphone device.
Benefits of the app include:
• Access to information on classes and events
• Access to screening information
• Access to pregnancy care plan and tips
• The app can be accessed by mums-to-be anywhere there is Wi-Fi or a data connection
• All the information mums-to-be need is in one place improving security.
There is also a function offering specialist advice for pregnant women who are managing conditions such as diabetes.
Pregnant women can access their maternity notes through a portal system rather than having to ring their midwife to access important information relating to their care – the portal can be accessed through the app or by a separate link and has seen 1,500 pregnant women register so far.
Patient feedback has included:
“Plenty of information and I love the events calendar.”
“It helped me to see all the different information to help me through pregnancy.”
The Trust decided to introduce an app to provide easy access to pregnancy and newborn information for local families. Following the move to paperlite systems it was recognised there was also a need for a replacement of hand-held pregnancy notes. The Trust engaged with the Maternity Voices Partnership (MVP) throughout the process. The MVP is a forum for maternity service users, providers and commissioners of maternity services to come together to design services that meet the needs of local women, parents and families in the Morecambe Bay area.
The creation of the portal for the app has been led by Karen Bridgeman, Digital Midwife, Kat Holmes, Diabetes Specialist Midwife and the Trust’s I3 Department.
Karen Bridgeman said: “The app really does empower women to make informed decisions about what is the best plan for their maternity care. A digital app brings with it a lot of advantages such as reducing the need for duplication and providing numerous leaflets. Access to pregnancy notes reduce the need to carry bulky maternity notes and also improves security as hand-held notes can be lost or stolen.”
Mums-to-be can download the app at the HealthZone UK from iTunes Store/Google Play register.
In order to access the maternity notes portal women must provide their community midwife with their email address and consent to the Trust contacting them with an email providing access.
More information about how to register and a step-by-step guide can be found at https://www.uhmb.nhs.uk/maternity/about-us/maternity-matters-app/