Low-income pregnant women in the Des Moines area will for the first time have access to a computer app to help monitor their health. It’s designed to keep them in close contact with their doctors during various stages of pregnancy.
The app is called Baby Blocks. It’s being offered by UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Iowa, one of the three managed care organizations serving the state’s Medicaid patients. The chief medical officer for UnitedHealthcare, KellyAnn Light-McGroary, says the app will help keep expectant mothers on track with their doctor’s appointments.
“We have a series of building blocks, and they represent different weeks and months in the gestational period, different periods of time because you need different monitoring during different stages of pregnancy,” she says.
Light-McGrory says these expectant mothers may not always have access to proper healthcare.
“They also are living very busy lives trying to support themselves and support their families, and this is a way to make it easier for them to get access to information where they are and where they need it,” she says.
The Baby Blocks program offers rewards of gift cards and diaper bags for women who make their scheduled appointments and record them on-line. They can continue to use the app during the first two years of the child’s life.