Woman’s Pregnancy App

Expecting and New Mothers Get Powerful Tool

Woman’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana is one of the first specialty hospitals for women and infants. Since opening in 1968, it has welcomed more than 300,000 babies, making it one of the largest delivery services in the country and the largest in Louisiana. Additionally, Woman's operates the highest-level neonatal intensive care unit in the state and cares for infants who are extremely premature, are critically ill, or require surgical intervention. As a private, nonprofit organization, with all funds reinvested into the hospital, Woman’s is in a unique position to improve the health of women and infants through the latest technology. While most of that technology is used within the hospital, Woman’s foresaw an opportunity to help expecting and new mothers. With the core value of giving women a healthy pregnancy and baby, Woman’s sought Envoc’s expertise to build and design a powerful mobile app.

Technology/Skills Applied

  • ASP.NET MVC backend portal
  • ASP.NET Web Api for mobile endpoints
  • Xamarin for iOS & Android mobile apps
  • Ongoing hosting in Microsoft Azure
  • Ongoing Maintenance to keep up with Mobile Operating System Upgrades

The Problem

In the age of Google searches, many people rely on various sites without knowing the source or accuracy of the information presented. This behavior becomes increasingly worrisome when related to health. Pregnancy can be an exciting and sometimes scary experience, so naturally, it comes with a lot of questions. In an effort to significantly increase breastfeeding rates and educate women on healthier pregnancies, Woman’s wanted to combat unverified information and keep women and their babies healthy.

Our Approach

It was clear that creating the Woman’s Pregnancy App would be an extensive project. Envoc relied heavily on the expertise of the OB-GYNs and neonatal nurses at Woman’s to combine their trusted medical information with the best mobile features we could offer. However, the app would provide more than information, so we approached the app as a companion to the specialists, and created a comprehensive resource for pregnant and breastfeeding women. Together, we compiled every conceivable question a woman might ask before, during, and after pregnancy and identified the best user experience to answer questions as they arise and act as a guide. With strict attention to accurate and detailed information, we wanted to create an app that clarified some of the questions of pregnancy and eased the transition into motherhood.

The Envoc Solution

The Woman’s Pregnancy app offers educational resources and helpful tools for expectant moms to utilize throughout pregnancy and after baby arrives, including all of the educational information that Woman’s recently published in a paperback pregnancy journal. While multiple apps provide individual features, we developed an app that does it all. To keep all information up-to-date, we built the app with a CMS on an MVC portal where content blocks and layouts can be edited. Each time the app launches, the system checks itself for the latest content version. If there are updates, the app pulls down the content tree and stores it locally. This allows the app to continue working if it loses network connectivity.

The CMS also gives us the ability to schedule dynamic content changes for certain times of the year and for certain events. The app features tools for monitoring week-by-week baby development, timing contractions, and tracking breastfeeding sessions so there is no need to download separate apps. The most powerful feature is the week-by-week pregnancy chart, which includes beautiful illustrations of each stage of fetus-growth, and even provides fruit size comparisons. Each week explains what to expect at each stage in development, for the baby and the mother. Additionally, this section offers a journal, “bump” photo uploader, FAQs, to-do checklists, weight tracker, prenatal visit worksheet, and helpful links. Every week of pregnancy is mapped so expecting mothers can feel more at ease and know they are getting the best, most accurate information. And the app continues to be a companion once the baby arrives. In addition to the breastfeeding tracker, there are resources for making the home safer, symptoms of baby blues, and how to get back in shape. Short of delivering the baby, the Woman’s Pregnancy app can do just about anything. It is one of the most comprehensive, beautiful, and powerful apps we have ever built.

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Key Features

  • Week-by-week baby development with fruit size comparisons
  • To-do lists
  • Weight tracker
  • Kick counter
  • Contraction timer
  • Breastfeeding/pumping tracker
  • Diaper change log
  • Educational information on a healthy lifestyle
  • Weekly push notifications