The Need for Mobile Apps for Maternal and Child Health Care in Center and East Europe

Abstract

Mobile health services are booming in the field of maternal and child health in Europe, due to extensions in the area of electronic health and the introduction of the European Policies to increase fertility rate. There are many applications (apps) related to mother and child health in computer stores, but the exact number of mobile apps, their download volume, and the functionality of these applications are not known. the reason of this research was to investigate on the use of mobile health apps (mHealth) in Android and IOS application stores and to describe the key features of the most popular applications that provide information on maternal health and baby. The researchers searched the most popular Android app stores and the iTunes App Store in Center and East Europe. All applications related to family planning (contraception and pregnancy preparedness), pregnancy and perinatal care, neonatal care and health, as well as the development of children under six, were included in the initial analysis. Mobile maternal and child health applications with prominent features in product marketing, children’s songs, animation, and games were excluded from the study.