Early Labour App: Developing a practice-based mobile health application for digital early labour support

Leonardo Horn Iwaya; Anna Nordin; Lothar Fritsch; Elin Børøsund; Margareta Johansson; Cecilie Varsi; Karin Ängeby

doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105139

Early Labour App: Developing a practice-based mobile health application for digital early labour support

Int J Med Inform. 2023 Sep:177:105139. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105139. Epub 2023 Jul 3.

Authors

Leonardo Horn Iwaya¹, Anna Nordin², Lothar Fritsch³, Elin Børøsund⁴, Margareta Johansson⁵, Cecilie Varsi⁶, Karin Ängeby⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Faculty of Health, Science, and Technology, Karlstad University, Karlstad, Sweden. Electronic address: leonardo.iwaya@kau.se.
² Department of Health Science, Faculty of Health, Science, and Technology, Karlstad University, Sweden; Department of Health, Education and Technology, Division of Nursing and Medical Technology, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
³ Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Technology, Art and Design, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway.
⁴ Department of Digital Health Research, Division of Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Department of Nursing and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, Norway.
⁵ Department of Women's and Children's Health, Faculty of Medicine, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
⁶ Department of Digital Health Research, Division of Medicine, Oslo University Hospital, Norway; Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, University of South-Eastern Norway, Drammen, Norway.
⁷ Centre for Clinical Research and Education, Region Värmland, Karlstad, Sweden; School of Education, Health and Social Studies, Dalarna University, Falun, Sweden.

PMID: 37406571
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2023.105139

Abstract

Background: Pregnant women in early labour have felt excluded from professional care, and their partners have been restricted from being involved in the birthing process. Expectant parents must be better prepared to deal with fear and stress during early labour. There is a need for evidence-based information and digital applications that can empower couples during childbirth.

Objective: To develop and identify requirements for a practice-based mobile health (mHealth) application for Digital Early Labour Support.

Methods: This research started with creating an expert group composed of a multidisciplinary team capable of informing the app development process on evidence-based practices. In consultation with the expert group, the app was built using an agile development approach (i.e., Scrum) within a continuous software engineering setting (i.e., CI/CD, DevOps), also including user and security tests.

Results: During the development of the Early Labour App, two main types of challenges emerged: (1) user challenges, related to understanding the users' needs and experience with the app, and (2) team challenges, related to the software development team in particular, and the necessary skills for translating an early labour intervention into a digital solution. This study reaffirms the importance of midwife support via blended care and the opportunity of complementing it with an app. The Early Labour App was easy to use, the women needed little to no help, and the partner's preparation was facilitated. The combination of the app together with blended care opens up awareness, thoughts and feelings about the method and provides good preparation for the birth.

Conclusion: We propose the creation of the Early Labour App, a mHealth app for early labour support. The preliminary tests conducted for the Early Labour App show that the app is mature, allowing it to be used in the project's Randomised Control Trial, which is already ongoing.

Keywords: Early labor; Mhealth; Midwifery; Mobile app; Mobile health; Pregnancy; Prenatal care.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Delivery, Obstetric
Female
Humans
Labor, Obstetric*
Mobile Applications*
Parturition
Pregnancy
Telemedicine*