Partnering with New Mothers to Develop a Smart Phone App to Prevent Maternal Mortality After Hospital Discharge: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: In the United States, approximately 700 women die annually from pregnancy-related complications in the first year after birth; a significant number of the deaths occur after hospital discharge. Although postpartum monitoring is important, the standard practice is for one healthcare evaluation at 6 weeks post-birth. Most women are not aware of signs of postpartum complications. AIM: The aim of the pilot study was to develop a prototype of a mobile app aimed at increasing a new mother's ability to monitor her own health after childbirth. DESIGN: The design used mixed methods and procedures from human-centred design in an iterative process. METHODS: Data were collected by the researchers from January - May 2019 in a hospital that serves primarily low income and underserved women in the southern US. Three groups of women provided data related to health education preferences or their reaction to a mock-up or prototype mobile app. Several women completed the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS; N = 22). RESULTS: Themes from interviews indicated that women (N = 5) preferred electronic health education and that they used apps to monitor their pregnancies. Other new mothers (n-5) described their overall reaction to the proposed features of the app which was incorporated into the design of the app that was tested by the third group of new mothers (N = 22) who were positive about interactions with the app. The MARS scores for the app were positive. CONCLUSIONS: New mothers indicated that they would be willing to use an app to monitor their own postpartum health. IMPACT: Data from the pilot study informed the development of a prototype mobile app that can now be used in a clinical trial with new mothers to monitor their own health and report concerns to healthcare providers.