When Ngoc Nguyen was pregnant with her first child in 2016, a doctor monitored her and the baby. Nevertheless, she worried about whether she was doing the right things for a healthy pregnancy.
“I read books, but a lot of information came in at once, so I felt more confused and stressed,” Ngoc said. “Luckily, with the support of the doctor and my family, I overcame this period.”
Three years later, Ngoc decided to help other mothers and fathers who may have questions about childbirth, delivery, and raising young children. She created an app called Momby, a play on the words mommy and baby, for parents in Vietnam.
Ngoc built the app with the support of the nonprofit Alive & Thrive and the Innovation Incubator at FHI 360 Global Nutrition, which promotes technologies to improve nutritional outcomes worldwide.
“I saw that it was necessary to have personalized content so the parent doesn’t need to look at all the resources,” she said.
Now Ngoc hopes parents will turn to just one source for personalized advice: the Momby app.
The Momby app includes information on breastfeeding, nutrition, and healthy development for babies, as well as the health and well-being of the mother. The app also has a version for fathers to help them understand what the mother may be going through during childbirth.
“The parent can find almost any topic related to pregnancy,” Ngoc said.
The app includes a digital assistant, Doti, who answers questions, provides evidence-based information on child nutrition developed by a team of pediatricians and obstetricians, and recommends good practices. If there are questions that Doti cannot answer, users can speak directly to experts who can answer them.
Instead of Googling an answer to a question, users have a one-stop shop to find reliable and trustworthy information they need to make informed decisions. That easy access could become especially important as the worldwide shortage of healthcare workers grows.
The World Health Organization estimates that there will be 10 million fewer healthcare workers than needed by 2030, mostly in lower-middle-income countries like Vietnam.
Reaching rural families in Vietnam
Meanwhile, the Momby app has the added benefit of reaching rural areas where people are more likely to struggle to access adequate healthcare and information about nutrition.
Ngoc is now introducing the app to more families across Vietnam with the help of the country’s National Targeted Program for Socio-Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas – a government-funding program that aims to improve people’s lives in minority or remote mountainous communities.
According to data from the Alive & Thrive Initiative, ethnic minority populations in Vietnam are more than twice as likely to experience stunting than the Kinh, the ethnic majority population.
The initiative will connect parents in these rural communities with nutritional counseling services and improve the nutrition of pregnant mothers and young children there. Nutrition counseling centers, called Little Sun clinics, will provide support groups to promote childhood nutrition in more remote villages, particularly those far from communal health centers.
With the establishment of Little Sun clinics, Momby can assist local healthcare staff in better connecting with mothers for check-ups and consultations. Momby also introduced the initiative to provincial healthcare authorities.
Around 1,200 Little Sun clinics that provide nutrition counseling will use the app.
All about breastmilk
Momby also has strict rules about promoting formula and breastmilk substitutes.
Parents in Vietnam – like in many places around the globe – are besieged by advertisements for breastmilk substitutes. These ads have been undermining trust in the role of breastfeeding. Advertisements appear on various platforms, including apps or online articles, claiming to provide advice and information on maternal and child health.
Momby, on the other hand, does not sell products or promote advertisements. Ngoc and her team are committed to providing accurate and objective information, not selling breastmilk substitutes.
The app also lowers the cost of fact-based advice for parents. By obtaining free counseling via Doti, Momby allows users to receive information without the financial burden of seeking a healthcare professional.
Currently, Momby has around 40,000 users, Ngoc said. But that number will likely grow because Internet use is widespread in Vietnam and Southeast Asia, with over 400 million users.
Dr. Phuong Huynh, head of the Division of Scientific Management at the National Institute of Nutrition in Vietnam, said that smartphone usage is high in the country, even in rural areas.
“The smartphone is used a lot in Vietnam, and especially during the COVID time when direct contact was impossible,” she said.
Huynh said she hopes that more rural, minority residents use the app, not just people in the cities.
“I hope that women in that community can use that app to learn,” she said. “And even to connect with the health provider in their area to get the right support.”
About the author: Kristi Eaton is a journalist and communications consultant for Alive and Thrive.
