An Innovative Pregnancy APP - KSHEMA

An Innovative Pregnancy APP for Revolutionizing Maternal Health Care. JananiKshema is a mobile based pregnancy tracker, that works with ASHA workers to provide free services to expectant mothers, released by KS Hegde Medical Academy (KSHEMA), Mangalore. The app aims to strengthen the quality of care and reduce maternal and newborn mortality rates by ensuring timely antenatal checkups, especially for women from rural areas. During the official launch of the app, Dr. B. Satheesh Kumar Bhandary, Dean of KSHEMA, said that it has got wide application for patients attending the Obstetrics and Gynecology department, especially from rural areas, who find it difficult to get appointment for a particular obstetrician, because of the enormous number of patients attending the OPD every day. He congratulated the staff and postgraduates of Community Medicine department for creating the app and added that this app will ensure that the pregnant women will get timely immunization, hematinic and all essential treatments. JananiKshema app allows ASHA workers to schedule appointment for pregnant women in their village using a cloud based appointment calendar system. Each entry is then encrypted by the app and added to the database in real-time using internet. The consultants at KSHEMA can follow up these schedules and can notify the ASHA workers, if the patients missed an appointment, who can then mobilize the patient. This system will ensure that the pregnant ladies will get all the essential antenatal checkups and investigations at the right time and free of cost. “Unlike other pregnancy apps, JananiKshema is custom designed for local use,” says Dr. Sanjeev Badiger, Professor and Head of Department of Community Medicine, KSHEMA. “It is very helpful to monitor mother and child health during pregnancy and provides an easy access for women to K S Hegde Hospital by scheduling the appointment with their consultant directly from the app.” The android app was developed by Dr Sharon Baisil, postgraduate in the department of Community Medicine, KSHEMA. Currently, the services of the app are implemented for the village of Natekal and will be gradually extended to all villages in the field practice area of KS Hegde Hospital.