There are hundreds of great apps related to pregnancy. Some of them are for women thinking of becoming pregnant or for women who already gave birth. Many others are for women who are currently pregnant. In this series, I review awesome apps that help pregnant women have a better experience. My evaluations are purely based on a thorough technical test of each app. I have no personal or business relationship with any of them. Please, feel free to share your thoughts below!
MedHelp’s I’m Expecting Pregnancy App and Baby Guide (Android, iOS) is a free, all-in one pregnancy tracker and resource.
The menu includes:
- “Week by Week”: For each gestational week, this section includes the following options:
- “What’s happening to your baby” (text and videos)
- “What’s happening to your body” (text)
- “Fetal development week” (videos)
- “Pregnancy week” (videos)
- “This Week’s Activity – To Do” (a recommendation)
- “Health Tip”
- “Top Symptoms” (a list of symptoms for this specific week of gestation)
- Symptoms manual: A repetition of the “Top Symptoms” above
- Progress charts: daily, weekly, monthly, and tri-monthly charts of your weight and steps. The weight charts also include the normal pregnancy weight range from http://www.womenshealth.gov/.
- Calendar: This is a graphical representation of a monthly calendar. By tapping on any day of the month, you can enter your weight, symptoms (eg, bloating, breast tenderness, fatigue), treatments (eg, prenatal vitamins, medications), events (eg, blood test, ultrasound), baby info (eg, number of baby kicks, baby’s weight), measurements (eg, cervix dilation), and notes.
- Baby Bump: This function allows you to take a photo, or to use an existing one, for your own album and to add it to the public gallery on MedHelp.
- Communities: the app-native communities are by mother’s age, baby products, and by month and year of expected birth. Anybody can read the community comments but, to post a question, you need to register.
- Articles: topical articles relevant to the corresponding gestational age
What I like about “I’m Expecting Pregnancy App and Baby”:
- It is free
- It is easy to use
- Posting comments in the forums is straightforward and many women participate, making it highly social and supportive
- You can share your information with relatives, friends, and your doctor
- You can connect it to other apps (eg, Apple’s HealthKit) and devices (eg, Fitbit, Jawbone)
- You get notifications at various times of the day (if you choose to receive them) reminding you to track symptoms, take prenatal vitamins, etc.
- It has a nicely designed “Baby Announcement” form you can fill out to send to family and friends
What I do not like about “I’m Expecting Pregnancy App and Baby”:
- The videos are from external sources and not current. In some instances, the video links are to YouTube and the results are completely unrelated to pregnancy
- The app doesn’t sync events and appointments with your phone-native calendar. Therefore, you do not get reminders
- You cannot search for symptoms nor for risk of medications or other exposures
- Twitter is the only way to share articles (the Facebook button only accepts “likes”)
- There are no medical experts on board to ask questions (although you may post questions in the communities)
- Baby Bump is a photo slide show, not a photo album. Therefore, you cannot add text or dates
- It has annoying ads
Have you used I’m Expecting Pregnancy App and Baby Guide? If so, please share your experience. Leave a comment below. Thank you!
