Development and pilot testing of the ‘Eating4Two’ smart phone application to limit gestational weight gain.

The number of pregnant women who are obese is increasing, with important implications for antenatal care. Various resource intensive interventions have attempted to assist women to manage their weight gain in pregnancy with limited success. A smart phone application (app) has been proposed as a convenient and cost-effective alternative to face-to-face interventions. This project involved the development of app components including a graphing function that allows the user to ‘weigh in’ throughout the pregnancy and receive real-time feedback plus general information on antenatal nutrition. The project was a collaborative effort between the disciplines of Nutrition and Dietetics, Midwifery, Public Health and Information Technology at the University of Canberra and stakeholder consultation was used to inform development. The ‘Eating4Two’ app was pilot-tested with ten pregnant women using a mixed method approach via an online survey and qualitative interviews (two focus groups, one individual). The transcripts were analysed using inductive thematic analysis and themes relating to user experience and acceptability were identified: (1) Functionality is important when navigating an app, (2) Pregnancy is a motivating time for women, and (3) How far can an app go? Participants in the pilot phase found the app to be a motivational tool but would have liked the graph to demonstrate numbers rather than a range for weight gain. They viewed the resources as credible but felt the information should be formatted in a more user-friendly way. The feedback provided by participants will assist with refining the current prototype for effectiveness testing