A senior midwife at East Kent Hospitals University Foundation NHS Trust has developed a smartphone app to enable families to access key pregnancy information at the touch of a button.
The My Own Maternity App (MOMA) was spearheaded by midwifery matron Jo Olagboyega who was keen to improve the way information was provided to expectant mums and their partners.
“We are really pleased to have created this easy-to-use app, which will have great benefits for pregnant women and those close to them,” said Ms Olagboyega, who worked closely with consultant obstetricians, the midwifery team and new mothers to develop the app, which was produced by the trust’s information and technology team.
She said: “MOMA contains a wealth of information, put together by clinicians in consultation with patients, for people to access at the touch of a button.”
The app, which has been positively received by users, was developed in response to feedback from local mothers-to-be who told midwives they wanted information at their fingertips.
The consultation revealed mothers were less likely to read paper leaflets, because they did not carry them around with them while out and about.
“The app allows the most up to date information to be accessible from one central place and has many useful elements such as the search and notes function,” said Ms Olagboyega.
She added: “As well as empowering parents-to-be to make informed decisions, contact details for our teams are now in one place which makes it easier for them to be located.
“We are constantly developing the app and I am excited about its next stages and what this will mean for mums to be across East Kent,” she said.