Top 3 Obstetric and Gynecology Medical Apps for Patients

A tumultuous time of uncertainty for a first-time mother, pregnancy is laced with a marriage of uncertainty and strange sensations never before felt by our first-time mothers. A Braxton-Hicks contraction or some mild morning nausea can lead to a sprint to the local ER in order to solve a minor incident.  Although having multiple children does alleviate some of the uncertainty of an expecting mother, carrying a child is never an easy task for any seasoned veteran.  Thankfully, there is a wide array of medical apps for expecting mothers as well as gynecological patients that are an ideal source to use to keep the patient informed.  Here are the Top 3 Obstetric and Gynecology Medical Apps for Patients.  

Number 1:  Ovia Pregnancy & Baby Tracker

This app is available on the Android and iOS platform and is a must-have for first-time mothers.  Rated as the #1 Pregnancy Tracker on the Android platform, this app scores a strong 4.8/5 stars and has countless posts with positive Testimony.  The Ovia app covers key parameters like giving daily baby size and developmental updates, personalized feedback and support based on the patient’s pregnancy state, BMI, age, personal goals, and health data, and real-time health alerts based on symptoms.  This platform also features a community discussion board where users have the ability to ask questions anonymously and receive instant feedback from other first-time mothers experiencing the same changes as well as remedies for these issues.  This app also has tabs specific for symptoms likely to be experienced during each week of pregnancy, foods that a mother should consume in order to maximize the nutritional intake for the fetus, a log to track mood changes throughout the day, and a fitness diary to help mother’s avoid gestational diabetes.  This app was designed by Harvard scientists, pregnancy specialists, and mothers who have already delivered so users have access to a combination of experts without needing to rush to the hospital for every minor change along the way.   

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This is a great app for all expecting mothers out there.  During my OB/GYN rotation, I examined at least 2 patients an hour who were experiencing strange symptoms for the first time and rushed to the hospital for a visit.  In 85% of cases, these were first-time moms that had little support from family and were not aware of the changes women experience during the pregnancy.  

Best of all, a user can make a customized webpage to track their changes during the pregnancy and document their physical changes throughout the whole process.  This is a welcomed addition considering how patients tend to be uncomfortable with their weight gain and physical changes during pregnancy. They will receive support and encouragement from their peers and enjoy venturing out in public because they are comfortable with their figures.   

Most Recommended Apps for OB/GYN Patients

Number 2:  My Fitness Pal

This app is a useful app for not only pregnant and nursing moms,but also for any patient who walks into a medical office.  My Fitness Pal is very effective at logging meals for patients to keep track of their daily consumption. This can be an eye-opening experience for a lot of people. Using this app, the user will be able to select from a wide range of popular food items and log each entry for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. If the food is not found on the predetermined list, the user has the ability to build their own dishes by selecting from a list of ingredients that make up the dish in order to make it as accurate as possible. 

Specialty programs can be selected to guide users to weight loss goals and you can select specific settings if you are a pregnant mother to minimize the risk of gestational diabetes.  This program will offer recipes for healthy meals and are a useful alternative to ensure that the user if fully aware of what he is eating.  

This is a very useful app that I would recommend for my patients.  I use this app myself to track calories and determine if I am eating too many fats, carbohydrates, or proteins and will adjust my meals based on my information.  This takes the guessing out of calorie counting and will force the user to be strict with dieting.  This is the main factor in determining whether a patient is ultimately successful in losing weight so it is important to give them every available resource that can improve their health.  

Number 3:  Ovia Ovulation & Fertility

If this name looks familiar, the reason is because Ovia has a sister-app that ranked #1 in my most useful apps list.  Instead of tracking symptoms that are commonly encountered during pregnancies like in the first application, this app is invaluable for helping patients plan their pregnancies.  This application provides a platform for women trying to get pregnant to use by tracking their menstrual cycles in order to determine the ideal times to try to conceive.  

Through the use of algorithms, this application is also able to make near-accurate predictions for patients suffering from irregular periods.  It also utilizes an online discussion board where users will be able to exchange helpful messages and advice for users suffering from similar adversity.  

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In my opinion, this is a useful feature based on how difficult it is for some patients to keep track of their last menstrual periods.  This allows physicians a more precise measure of determining dates and can help pinpoint the exact date of conception when the ultrasound reports are conflicting.  It also makes it more of a science to determine proper times to fertilize and will hopefully augment the number of “temperature monitoring” cases of conception planning that frequent the clinics.

Having the support of an online community is paramount for patients who need support when facing the problems of infertility.  They may feel a little better after visiting their obstetrician but could easily fall into a depression between visits due to the stress of this unpleasant circumstance.  Having support from other individuals in similar circumstances is essential both as a therapeutic resource as well as a motivational factor to keep hoping for the best.