Pregnant? There's an App for that!

Pregnant? There’s an app for that!

A new app aimed at new mums and babies is being launched next week at NHS sites across Berkshire West.

It provides a definitive personal guide for pregnancy, birth and beyond and covers the start of pregnancy to early parenthood. This app will support women and their families with:

• Choice with where they would like to give birth and for pregnancy, birth and beyond 
• Access to useful information about every step of their pregnancy journey - from being pregnant, to giving birth and looking after a new baby
• Personalised plans for their care during pregnancy, birth and onwards.

The app has an easy-to-navigate screen, multiple links and videos on a range of useful topics, including; Emotional and physical wellbeing, preparing for labour and baby care basics.

It’s a ‘one stop shop’ giving information on local bookings and it allows personal preferences for each stage of the maternity journey to be documented and stored. This information can then be shared with care providers and generate conversations that support collaborative and personalised care plans. 

The app aims to improve women’s experiences of maternity care and ensures that the information they receive is consistent no matter where they choose to give birth in the local area.

Gill Valentine, Director of Midwifery at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust said: “This great new app means we are able to offer personal care to our mums-to-be and their families by ensuring they are able to access information easily and quickly.

"It will offer women information about their choice of maternity services, along with access to personalised care plans and will enhance the continuity of care throughout their pregnancy journey.”

Download it! 

The app is available in both iOS and Android formats; go to your app store (Apple Store or Google Play) to download it. Just search ‘mum and baby’.

Note to editors

The app was originally developed by Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and their charity CW+ with Imagineear. It has evolved with new content led by North West London Local Maternity System to deliver on the ambitions of the NHS Better Births report involving mums, midwives and doctors, Royal Colleges, local authorities and research to provide women with a single source of trusted NHS information for all their maternity needs at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

January 2020