Healthcare professionals
Bump2Baby and Me is focused on an innovative healthcare intervention that includes risk screening and a health coaching app providing a low resource system of care for appropriate weight management and improved outcomes for both mother and baby. The approach aims to reach more women, at the right time, and reduce healthcare service burden.
How will the trial work?
Bump2Baby and Me uses a validated screening tool to identify pregnant women at high risk of developing gestational diabetes. Interested women will then be randomly assigned to either usual care or usual care plus the Bump2Baby and Me app and health coach.
Through the app and health coach, women are then supported to better self-manage their modifiable risk factors. Each woman will benefit from support through pregnancy (bump) to birth (baby) and for 12 months postpartum. Trained health coaches will optimise engagement with the app and help to personalise content for each woman and her baby, ensuring they only receive the right information at the right time.
The trial will begin in early 2021 in our intervention countries (Australia, Ireland, Spain and the UK).
The Bump2Baby and Me intervention is based on previous randomised trial evidence in over 2,500 women in different countries. It will collect a wide variety of information on:
- The health of mothers and babies involved;
- How the project fitted within maternity services;
- How much it cost; and
- What the women thought about the intervention.
Generating a robust evidence base and showcasing the potential impact on delivering effective and low-resource healthcare is critical if Bump2Baby and Me is going to be able to be rolled out more widely.
What previous research is the project based upon?
The project will take the evidence outlined below and synthesise it to create an innovative and unique approach to managing weight management in pregnancy and the first year of life to ensure both mother and baby have a healthy pregnancy and the best start in life.
| Evidence | Detail | Link to Publication |
|---|---|---|
| Monash GDM Screening Tool, 2011 | 4,276 women attending a large tertiary hospital were screened using risk factors for GDM easily identified at the first-trimester midwifery hospital booking visit. This risk prediction tool identified women at high risk of GDM and represents a novel approach to facilitate targeted early intervention. | |
| Pregnancy Exercise, nutrition with App support Research Study (PEARS), 2015-2017 | PEARS was a lifestyle intervention versus usual care in women with BMI > 25kg/m2. The intervention focused on a low diet and exercise grounded in behaviour theory delivered using an individual session and a phone app. Whilst the trial did not reduce GDM, there were significant differences in reduced gestational weight gain and lower rates of large gestational age infants in those using the intervention. | |
| InFANT and My Baby Now | A trial delivered for children aged 3-18 months through first-time pregnancy groups. The trial significantly improved energy-balance behaviours in mothers and children at 18 month and 5 year follow ups. Mothers and children both experienced healthier behaviours including eating more vegetables, eating fewer sugary snacks and greater dietary knowledge. The trial confirmed the hypothesis that early childhood interventions could have significant and meaningful change in child BMI. | |
| The Mothers After Gestational Diabetes in Australia (MAGDA); 2011-2016 | The study was a key component of the first and only systematic approach in the world aiming to prevent conversation from GDM to type-2 diabetes. The lifestyle intervention consisted of a single individual session, five group sessions and two follow-up phone calls, and resulted in an average 1kg difference between control and intervention groups. The weight difference is effective at reducing GDM and other long-term negative effects on the offspring. MAGDA also developed the programme further to address barriers to physical attendance by integrating health coaching and an app delivery. The programme has had significant effects on Australian policy and practice. | |
| Healthy Lifestyle Programme (HeLP-her) Intervention | A low intensity intervention, integrated with standard antenatal care is effective in limiting postpartum weight retention. |