Mobile app soon to help pregnant women with safety tips on diseases

With about four to five million pregnant women getting affected each year, there are two million converting into type 2 diabetes and an alarming proportion of children born to these moms are succumbing to childhood obesity and the early onset of adult diabetes, say gynaecologists.

Stating that there is a significant proportion of these that can be prevented with the right approach to life, Dr Hema Divakar, Chairperson of the Asian Research and Training Institute for Skill Transfer (ARTIST), said, “Two decades ago, by abiding to a healthy lifestyle, quality diet and adapting ample physical activity by default in their living pattern, women kept many diseases, especially diabetes, away.”

Focussing on the same, a workshop was held in the city on Saturday with an emphasis laid on the optimal use of technology to make quality healthcare accessible, to check the rise of such diseases among pregnant women. Speaking about the importance of Pre-Conception Care to maximise preventive care, she had said that ARTIST, as part of its VISION 2022, plans to digitise preventive care through its innovative care centres. “Centres have been initialised to maximise preventive care and address various women health issues much earlier in life. These centres will be available through mobile apps wherein women or couples planning for a pregnancy can answer a few questions thereby assisting the healthcare provider in charting an appropriate healthcare programme for her to be followed before, during, and after pregnancy. By answering these questions, 70 per cent of the preliminary check is complete through self-analysis and a risk scoring is already done before they step in for examination,” she stated.

Women worried about various factors related to pregnancy, can also access the digital platform to answer their questions. “Such an initiative will benefit many women, as she can access the healthcare provider at any time of the day as well. While the patient should be present physically for examination about 20 per cent of the time, the other 80 per cent of the evaluation and management can be handled through digital platform, minimising the number of actual visits and other factors,” said Dr Kavitha P, an Obstetric Gynaecologist.