The Baby Buddy app: views of first-time mothers understanding and use of a pregnancy and parenting mobile application. (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Internationally, there is an increasing emphasis on early intervention in the first 1000 days to support pregnant mothers and optimise the health and development of newborns. To increase intervention reach, digital and app-based interventions have been advocated. This paper reports on the qualitative arm of the independent multicomponent evaluation of the Baby Buddy app, a pregnancy related app supported by several professional bodies and developed by a UK young child health and wellbeing charity Best Beginnings. OBJECTIVE To understand when, why and how first-time mothers use the Baby Buddy app and the perceived potential benefits. METHODS An Appreciative Inquiry (AI) qualitative approach was used with semi-structured interviews (n = 17) undertaken with pregnant mother either by telephone or in a focus group. Thematic analysis was used to synthesise the rich data and present findings. RESULTS Four over-riding themes were collated with regard to women’s use of the Baby Buddy app and its influence on interactions with health care professionals and family: Accessibility of information, Knowledge, Reassurance and Reliability, and Confidence. CONCLUSIONS The findings demonstrated a cyclical pattern between the emergent themes, which could provide a framework on which to support first-time mothers’ engagement with digital health management tools. CLINICALTRIAL NA INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT RR2-10.1017/S1463423618000294