Women and children play a crucial role in development of society. Investing in women and children’s health is not only the right thing to do; it also builds stable, peaceful and productive societies.
Both the health professionals and society as a whole have historically been focusing on “disease repair” rather than “health promotion and disease prevention”. The “emotional” and “physical” problems have been considered in isolation due to a lack of awareness and absence of an integrated approach.
The development of child brain starts in the womb. Ignorance about the importance of psychology and nutrition of both the mother and child during pregnancy and afterwards on early brain development is detrimental to health. It may lead to long-term irreversible neurological problems for the children that include learning disabilities. Weak referral system at health-center level, financial difficulties, sociocultural values, practices and beliefs are barriers to good health. Malnutrition during pregnancy has a devastating impact on growth and development of a child. It weakens a child’s immune system and makes him susceptible to fatality from common illnesses such as pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. There is a likelihood of lifelong cognitive and physical defects and chronic health problems. Eating habits of proper balanced diet by pregnant women and feeding of children during the first two years of life is critical to break the cycle of malnutrition from generation to generation.
The targeted education to mother, her family and community on the importance of eating healthy food as well as precautions to be taken during pregnancy and after birth, will promote all-round healthy growth of newborns and good health for their mothers. Healthy women work more productively, and stand to earn more throughout their lives. Addressing under nutrition in pregnant women and children leads to an increase of up to 10% in an individual’s lifetime earnings.
The current tools and accessibility to basic healthcare education are limited. For sustainable health behavior change, right scientific information must reach to the population in the format they can understand and available for them to access any time.
Nurture baby brain application will motivate pregnant women and their families to participate in health information seeking activities. This mobile application will make learning about the development of child in womb available at the fingertips. It will empower women and promote gender equality, as the education will be available for men and boys also. The app is very easy to navigate and has user-friendly menu. It will keep users connected with the health information distribution system. Once user downloads “Nurture Baby Brain” app, the app lives on their phone, ensuring they are constantly engaged and entertained with various features right from their home screen. Users will get regular alerts, notifications, and updates to their mobile device, reminding them the important things to be performed.