Mom-IT: An innovative IT-solution for maternal weight loss after birth
More than a third of all pregnant Danish women are overweight or severely obese, and the number is increasing. This may cause complications at birth and increase the risk of gestational diabetes, overweight and consequently lifestyle diseases for the child.
Many new mothers feel that they do not know what they should or should not do with regards to physical exercise. Many of them forget to eat healthy and prioritese the needs of the baby at the expense of their own. In addition, many new mothers have unrealistic expectations for how quickly they can loose weight after childbirth.
AIM
The PhD project aspires to help new mothers live a healthy life and control their weight after pregnancy and birth. By losing the weight in a healthy way, the mothers are able to reduce the scale of overweight later in life and the inconveniences and risks that it entails – including type 2 diabetes. At the same time, it will give women who become pregnant again fewer complications.
With the inspiration of participatory design, the PhD project involves both users and developers in designing a solution. The effect can be measured by a randomised controlled study among 120 first-time mothers.
Mette Maria Skjøth
PROJECT PERIOD
Start: April 2017
End: April 2020
The project is a PhD project by Pernille Kjærgaard Christiansen.
