Digital health

mHealth for a better first 1000 days

The aim of this project is to provide useful evidence on the status and effect of mobile technology in maternal and child health. The project consisted of:

  1. A systematic review on current mHealth interventions and apps in the market for maternal and child health, which summarized evidence of function and effects.
  2. A retrospective study investigating the association between use of maternal and child healthcare smartphone apps during pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcomes. The study collected data from six hospitals in Beijing and Hebei Province.
  3. Development of a digital platform which covers the pivotal 1000 days from pregnancy to child at 2 years old and beyond, and to provide pregnant women with easy access to health service and self-management tools to monitor the progress of pregnancy and manage chronic conditions during pregnancy, as well as to inform them on maternal and child health knowledge. The 1000 Days app has been piloted in two hospitals in Hebei Province.
  4. A sub-study retrospectively conducted in six maternal and child healthcare hospitals in northern China. The study aimed to investigate association between use of MCH apps and adverse pregnancy outcomes. 1863 women that delivered their babies in the study hospitals were recruited during October 2017 to January 2018.