After nearly 20 months’ involvement in the Bump2Baby and Me study, the research team in Bristol invited our Mums and babies to a tea party at Southmead Hospital to say a big ‘thank you’ for their involvement.
Held on 21 September, it was a wonderful event and lovely to see so many toddlers enjoying themselves.The feedback from the Mums was really positive, especially those in the intervention group who felt they had really benefited from the health coaching they received.
Bump2Baby and Me is a five-year, randomised controlled trial testing an innovative healthcare intervention, the Bump2Baby and Me mHealth coaching programme. This programme provides women with evidence-based healthy eating and exercise information, both during pregnancy and for the first year after birth, via a smartphone app and real-life health coach. The trial involved maternity hospitals in Ireland, the UK, Spain and Australia and focuses on working with women who are identified at high risk of gestational diabetes.
Back in 2021 the Bristol team (including Dr Christy Burden, Clinical Lead; Sarah Coates, Research Midwife; and Dr Anna Davies, Project Researcher) recruited 220 newly pregnant women who had risk factors for developing Diabetes in pregnancy. They were randomised to a ‘standard care’ or ‘intervention group’, whereby individualised health coaching was delivered via an app on their phones. Women in the study were also encouraged to weigh themselves regularly and complete 3 monthly questionnaires. Our involvement in the study has now come to an end and we are hugely grateful to all those who took part.
The results will now be evaluated alongside those from the other site locations. It is hoped the study outcomes will show the Bump2Baby and Me intervention as a low cost, low resource system of care for appropriate weight management and improved outcomes for both mother and baby. The team hope that using smartphone technology in this way will have positive health outcomes for both mums and their babies, supporting early intervention and reducing the long-term demand for health services, including those in low- to middle-income countries.