Health & Wellness

AN APP FOR THAT Acadiana moms can now download a smartphone application designed just for them.

by Kailey Broussard

There’s a new app on the market for moms-to-be that coaxes its users to post-natal success via tasks, reminders and resources.

Designed by Women’s and Children’s Hospital with help from Hospital Corporation of America, My 39 Weeks is what WC Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator Trevis Badeaux describes as a “one-stop shop” for expecting women.

“A lot of women dream about the day that they’ll be pregnant their whole lives. When it finally happens, you want it to be the best possible experience that it can be,” Badeaux says.

On first login and with every following login, the app asks the user to rate her mood using certain emoticons, which range from great to tired to bad. My 39 Weeks’ game-like structure tasks its users with missions such as finding a pediatrician, attending prenatal classes, taking vitamins and visiting the gynecologist.

Curated by health care and pediatric professionals, the app also boasts programs that will locate pediatricians and gynecologists. Although the app won’t expedite a checkup at the doctor’s office, it will perform a Google search.

“(When searching Google) you’ll get a lot of results of people who are nearby, but it doesn’t give you a lot further information other than, like, go to website and you gotta start doing a lot of research, etcetera,” says Badeaux. “The app, when it reminds you about the OBGYN or the pediatrician, it takes you to a tool that helps you in finding those doctors near you. Chances are the physician’s image will be on that profile. It’ll have the contact information.”

When the user finds a gynecologist or gets a badge for ample sleep time, she earns points that will grant discounts to national services such as Diapers.com. When accepting a task, the user can click a button that says, “Why do I need this?” to obtain more vital information regarding her and her baby’s needs.

“Everything is geared toward it being a healthy pregnancy, so all the way from, ‘Have you signed up for prenatal classes?’ to ‘Are you taking your prenatal vitamins?’ to ‘Are you getting enough rest?’” The last prompt listed, he says, is one of the greater misconceptions in pregnancy.

“You have to eat right for you and your baby. You have to eat right for the health of you and your baby. So whereas you can enjoy the triple-scoop Baskin Robbins Ice Cream a little bit more without any repercussions during pregnancy, much like everything else in life, you still need to do things in moderation and eat well for you and your baby,” Badeaux adds.

Since its June 1 launch date, the app has attracted more than 50 unique users. Asked about the app’s future, Badeaux says he expects the amount of downloads and active users to “grow exponentially” in the coming months.

The app is not on either the Apple Store or Google Play; those interested in using the app should visit my39weeks.com or womens-childrens.com/dreams on their mobile devices. From there, anyone can enter their information and download the app onto their phones.

“This app and its content were created for the Acadiana mom with the Acadiana mom in mind,” notes Badeaux. “This is not a generic pregnancy app that you’ll find in one of the two app stores; this was designed for Acadiana families.”

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