Engaging with mHealth: Shaping the Future of Maternity Care

We will be hosting our sixth and final online forum “Engaging with mHealth: Shaping the Future of Maternity Care” on Wednesday 20th November 2024 at 08.00am GMT (09.00am CET, 19.00 AEDT).

Gestational diabetes (GDM) is a growing burden worldwide. Affecting around one in eight pregnant women, its impact on healthcare services is significant and it has serious short-term and long-term public health implications for the life of the mothers and newborns. GDM risks include pregnancy complications such as caesarean section or future development of type 2 diabetes. The Bump2Baby and Me project developed and tested a healthcare intervention to help prevent maternal and child diabetes, overweight and obesity and other non-communicable associated diseases.

One key aspect of the Bump2Baby and Me healthcare intervention is that it is a mHealth programme.  During this forum we are excited to discuss the opportunities which can be created by integrating mHealth into maternity care.

The forum, facilitated by Kate Wall at Beta Technology, will feature short presentations from the Bump2Baby and Me project team, including Associate Professor Sharleen O’Reilly, Dr Christy Burden, Signe Boldt Bendsen and Liz McGovern. Presentations will focus on:

• Is the assessment and management of GDM a postcode lottery and how can mHealth help to standardise care?
• Exploring engagement patterns within a mobile health intervention for women at risk of gestational diabetes.
• Lessons for engagement from a scoping review: intervention factors to enhance breastfeeding confidence and how these can be applied to future mHealth interventions.

These presentations will be followed by an informal discussion.

The forum is open to all policymakers, healthcare decision makers, health service commissioners, and service users. It will provide the opportunity to network and engage with peers and to share knowledge and best practice, as well as ensuring effective, bi-directional dialogue between policy and health stakeholders and researchers.