Smart mobile computing in pregnancy care

Abstract

Pregnancy is a period of changes. With all the information available and all the questions raised, it may also be an overwhelming period. Mobiles phones might be a solution for pregnant women to follow their pregnancy through Electronic Maternity Records (EMR). Therefore, this paper aims to propose an EMR to help women during their pregnancy. Firstly, the importance of Personal Health Records (PHRs) as well as mHealth is overviewed. Secondly, the types of mobile apps are presented with their pros and cons and the concept of Progressive Web App (PWA) is introduced. In order to understand the features that pregnancy mobile apps are now offering and the ones they are missing, eight apps are analysed. Lastly, the features and architecture of the proposed EMR are described and discussed. Since PWAs are a recent technology and a promising alternative to the three classic types of mobile development, it is also the technology used to develop the proposed EMR.