Grant: Project Grant

The 9 months in the womb is the most dramatic period of growth and development that ultimately shapes our long-term health. Prenatal care and promotion of healthful behaviours during pregnancy have been identified as key intervention strategies for supporting optimal long-term health. However, pregnant women often report receiving limited or no support through health care providers and existing online channels on healthy behaviours recommended throughout pregnancy. Poor diet and sleep, high stress and low physical activity levels can lead to pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and hypertension, depression and inappropriate/excessive gestational weight gain (GWG). A new approach to prenatal health care delivery is urgently needed and we believe that intervention via mobile technology is the answer to better outcomes for mom and baby. Today's tech savvy pregnant moms expect the latest information easily and quickly and thus the objective of our project is to assess the feasibility of the mHealth SmartMoms Canada app. This app is designed to support women with health behaviours throughout pregnancy to achieve GWG goals. We will evaluate recruitment and adherence to SmartMoms Canada, data collection/outcome measures and intervention procedures. Our study aims to evaluate user experience, measured by adherence to the program via app software metrics (e.g., number of logins, app use, 'counts' on specific pages [i.e., nutrition, exercise]); overall study completion rate of greater than or equal to 75% of participants (at delivery); and score of greater than 2 on a Participant Satisfaction Questionnaire. We intend to revolutionize the existing prenatal health care delivery model by launching a personalized, real-time technology that is accessible to all Canadian pregnant women and therefore, supporting all women with improving health behaviours throughout gestation and downstream maternal and child health.