Developing a Mobile App to Increase Physical Activity During and After Pregnancy

Pregnancy and postpartum are two critical time periods in a woman’s life. The maintenance of a healthy lifestyle during these time periods is important as excessive weight gain and retention may have serious consequences for a mother and her baby. Recent data suggest the development of obesity during reproductive years (i.e. pregnancy and postpartum) is at an all-time high. In fact, over 40% of the female population is clinically obese, and these numbers are even higher among women in rural communities. Further, Kentucky is the least active state, one of the most obese states, and has very limited access to obstetric care. Therefore, the goal of this project is to develop an evidence-based mHealth intervention program for pregnant and postpartum women in a rural community. This project proposes to accomplish this overall objective through two aims. Aim 1. Identify the needs of women in the community and how an application (app) could best serve them. Identify cultural and contextual factors that need to be incorporated into the development of an mHealth intervention through focus groups among pregnant and postpartum women and interviews among health care providers. Aim 2: Develop the mHealth application to educate and motivate women to become or remain physically active during pregnancy and postpartum.