Guest Blog Post - Bitbaby

Every 5 minutes, somewhere in the world, parents are suffering the life-changing sadness of stillbirth.

In the UK, approximately 3,430 families experience a stillbirth every year, that’s 1 in every 225 pregnancies. Approximately 9 babies are stillborn every day. Worldwide 2.6 million babies are stillborn, that’s 7,300 every day. This could happen to anyone.

We also know that some stillbirths may be preventable.

As your unborn baby starts to develop and grow, they become more and more active. This is a reassuring sign of your baby’s well being.

My name is Rachael, and I am the founder of bitbaby. I have been a midwife for nearly 20 years and over the years I have had the privilege of guiding many babies into the world. Sadly, it’s the stillborn babies, their parents and their families that I remember the most.

I have thought for some years that there must be a way that we can help pregnant women keep a check on their babies movements to help to reduce the number of poor outcomes. I recognise that pregnant women are searching for the reassurance that their baby is ok, so I want to provide a device that will help pregnant women to feel confident, empowered and allowing them to enjoy their pregnancy.

I want to solve the problem that, in spite of a large number of pregnant women noticing a change in their baby’s movements, they don’t seek advice straight away, or at all. A large number of women have expressed to me that they are unsure of what a regular pattern of movements means. They are anxious about keeping a check on their baby’s movements during pregnancy. They don’t feel confident enough, they doubt themselves and worry.

The solution I am creating is a device that pregnant women can wear from 24 weeks gestation. It will monitor a baby’s movements and relay the data to the pregnant woman via an app. The aim is to educate her about a regular pattern of movements for her baby. So if her baby’s movements were to reduce, she will recognise this. It will reaffirm her findings and she will seek advice straight away. With the aim of educating the woman about the wellbeing of her unborn baby, reduce her anxiety and improve her confidence.

The wellbeing of both mum and baby is central to bitbaby. In addition to the wellbeing of babies, the app component of the device concentrates on maternal mental wellbeing. I have incorporated a mood checker for mums to use that will help keep a log of how you are feeling on a regular basis. This also gives gentle suggestions to consider if you are feeling low mood. The aim of this aspect is to help you feel in control and that you are able to recognise if your feeling low mood on a regular basis.

It emphasises that you can speak to a midwife if you wish to about how you are feeling.I am continually asking mums, and mums to be, for their opinions about bitbaby. Their opinions are central to shaping all aspects of bitbaby,

I have a user panel of over 50 women (either currently pregnant or have experienced pregnancy) who are actively engaged and currently testing a prototype of the software for the app, and their feedback is that they would really value a solution like this. I am always seeking for more women to get involved.

If you are interested in knowing more about bitbaby, please get in touch at info@bitbaby.co.uk , via website www.bitbaby.co.uk , Facebook / Instagram @mybitbaby.