To provide antenatal care and real-time medical support to pregnant women, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee and AIIMS Delhi created the mobile application ‘SwasthGarbh’.

Sahil Sharma, Prof. Deepak Sharma, Prof. Vatsla Dadhwal, and Prof. Aparna Sharma from the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering at the IIT Roorkee, as well as Prof. Vatsla Dadhwal and Prof. Aparna Sharma from the AIIMS, New Delhi, developed ‘SwasthGarbh’ to promote prenatal care that is holistic and patient-centered as apps used in pregnancy typically provide pregnancy-related information

The app is said to be the first pregnancy app that offers immediate access to medical advice and is reliable and scientifically endorsed.

This could serve as a crucial tool for women in rural areas and others who do not have easy access to doctors.

It benefits expectant mothers by assuring punctual antenatal care appointments, documenting all clinical tests, and enhancing medication adherence.

Congratulating the researchers, Prof KK Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, says, “The utility of telemedicine in healthcare has been brought to the forefront by the Covid-19 pandemic. The smartphone, with over one billion users worldwide, has tremendous potential to transform the field of medical sciences and improve healthcare.”

The esteemed peer-reviewed IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics has also released a study outlining the advantages of the ‘SwasthGarbh’ App.

Highlighting the utility of the app, Prof Rama Chaudhry, Dean (Research), AIIMS New Delhi, said, “'SwasthGarbhi App will be quite useful for providing potential solutions to common problems in pregnancy. Our goal is to make the SwasthGarbh App reach every household of our country and thus save precious maternal-fetal lives.”

Elaborating on the research, Prof Deepak Sharma, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Roorkee, said, “As higher Neonatal Mortality Rate is an alarming concern, SwasthGarbh Mobile App will provide real-time medical support to all pregnant women and improve maternal-fetal health. This is a gift from IIT Roorkee to all the women in India/World and will help us to move forward in the Prime Minister’s AtmaNirbhar Swasth Bharat mission.”

A clinical evaluation of 150 patients showed the app's usefulness. The patients who had downloaded the app had significantly more mean prenatal visits and better adherence to the WHO recommendations. Additionally, it aided in providing patients with better counseling regarding the creation of birth plans and the treatment of physiological issues related to pregnancy.