Innovative health-coaching app for pregnant women is focus of newly funded project

Bump2Baby and Me is a new project awarded funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and development programme. Led by University College Dublin, this five-year project will address weight management during and after pregnancy.

The goal of the ‘Bump2Baby and Me’ project is to deliver implementable solutions for hospitals and health service providers to better support women during pregnancy and the critical first year, via health coaching on healthy eating and physical activity.

The €4.4M project brings together a team of world-leaders in maternal and child health alongside a cutting-edge mobile health technology company. The team is looking to address the issues of obesity and overweight in pregnancy through an innovative app that links to a real health coach, tailoring weight management for each mum and helping them to give their baby the best start around feeding and active play. The study of the health coaching app is going to run in maternity hospitals in Ireland, the UK, Spain and Australia.

Project Coordinator Dr Sharleen O’Reilly explains: “One in two pregnancies now have obesity or overweight issues, which are strongly linked to a risk of developing diabetes in the mother and children. We are therefore delighted to be funded and excited to work on research that will make a positive contribution to society.”

Bump2Baby and Me is a five-year project with a total grant of €4million from Horizon 2020 and additional funding from Australia. The project started on 1st January and a comprehensive website will be launched in May 2020. To keep up-to-date with the project’s progress follow @bump2babyandme on Twitter.

–ENDS–