Baby Buddy provides accurate, relevant and reliable information on a modern platform. The overarching aim of this Big Lottery funded resource is to support parents in giving their baby the best possible start in life.The app is designed to increase knowledge and confidence directly. Also, when embedded into maternity and children’s services, to enhance maternity experiences (#matexp) and increase and maximise contact points with health care professionals and help make every contact count.
The interactive Baby Buddy app delivers personalised pregnancy and parenting information and prompts for reflection and action, in the voice of a chatty, knowledgeable friend. This daily “push” of information is complemented by a number of additional, fun-to-use features that include an avatar that you can create or personalise - your ‘Buddy’ to guide you on your journey, a tracker for personal goals that you can share if you choose, a growing repository of frequently asked questions and answers, an appointment reminder, a reminder list of questions to ask at your next appointment, videos, a diary to record thoughts, feelings and photos and share daily entries if you choose, a photo record that creates a video of the growing bump or baby and a function to find local services by geo-location and provide feedback on them if you choose.
In the coming month over a 100 new film clips will be added into Baby Buddy covering many aspects of the physical and emotional transition to parenthood.
Baby Buddy has been created with significant input from parents, midwives, doctors, health visitors, breastfeeding specialists, speech and language therapists, psychologists and teenage pregnancy specialists. The app is endorsed by the The Department of Health, The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, The Royal College of Midwives, The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association and the Faculty of Public Health. Best Beginnings have ensured that Baby Buddy covers all the important issues in a way that is evidence-based and in line with best practice. A specialist writer has ensured that the tone and style is relevant to young first time mums and accessible for those with a reading age of about 11.
Parents who do not have access to a smartphone can access the app’s written and film content via the Baby Buddy website.
Best Beginnings is a charity dedicated to ending child health inequalities in the UK. To find out more about Best Beginnings and about their NHS Change Day Action see www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/nhschangeday2015.
Watch the video here: