Sidra Medicine launches Qatar’s first maternity mobile app

Sidra Medicine has launched Qatar’s first in-house developed bi-lingual maternity mobile application, 10 Moons – based on the lunar calendar duration of a pregnancy.

It is the first app of its kind in Qatar, developed fully in-house by the Center for Medical Innovation, Software and Technology (CMIST) of Sidra Medicine. 10 Moons help expectant mothers track their pregnancy journey and provide step-by-step guidance about foetal development, nutrition advice as well as information related to their care at Sidra Medicine. The app with content in English and Arabic can be downloaded for free on both Android and Apple platforms.Conceptualised by Paula Ibanez, a clinical midwife and Sofia Ferreira, an engineer within the hardware systems and 3D printing section, 10 Moons was launched under Sidra Medicine’s Imagine initiative, a novel framework to encourage innovation at all levels within Sidra Medicine. It is based on the concept of crowd sourcing innovation ideas or technology innovations that create efficiencies in work processes.Ibanez and Ferreira stated, “What makes 10 Moons appealing to our patients is that it redefines communication between them and Sidra Medicine as their trusted source of maternity related information. It also allows women and their families to become active partners of their care.”Key features of 10 Moons include: Plan of care: information about what to expect from each appointment; Weekly updates: access to the latest information about the baby’s development; Ultrasound images: access to ultrasound scans sent directly to the patient; Nutrition: healthy eating guide and Antenatal classes: information about upcoming antennal classes.Further benefit of 10 Moons is that it will streamline registration and admission to Women’s Services at Sidra Medicine. Information entered into the 10 Moons application synchronises automatically with the hospital’s admission systems, resulting in patients spending less time filling forms and waiting for an appointment. Dr Avez Rizvi, clinical lead for innovation and division chief, CMIST said, “Being able to get the ultrasound picture directly to your phone has proven to be a very popular feature of 10 Moons. We have over 300 of our patients who have signed up for the app – within six weeks of going live!”The app will also include new features including the ability to order 3D-printed mementos from the baby scans. The CMIST team are also looking into adding a mood tracker that will monitor the patient’s moods throughout the pregnancy and offer guidance and tips.“10 Moons has been was just the right app for me because it was customised based on my personal pregnancy journey. This has really reassured me and made me feel very comfortable at every stage of my pregnancy,”Gillian Collins, a Sidra Medicine patient who uses the app, added.