Clinical review
Reviewer: Dr Judy Ormandy, Obstetrician and gynaecologist, Capital & Coast District Health Board and Senior Lecturer in Obstetrics & Gynaecology, University of Otago, Wellington
Date of review: September 2021
Comments: This app is for people in labour and their support people. The app allows you to time your contractions in labour. You press start then stop and start and finish of contraction, you are able to then rate the intensity of contraction. This provides you with an up-to-date record of your contraction pattern.
After 4 contractions it gives an assessment of your contractions eg ‘not in active labour’. It also gives advice, eg, ‘contact your health provider and go to hospital’.
This review is for the free version only. Overall the app is straightforward, easy to use and does what it says.
It advises an early presentation to hospital but does advise contacting health professionals first.
Safety concerns: The app advises you to ‘go to hospital’ very early on in your labour. However, it also says to ‘contact your healthcare provider’ so the advice is unsafe.
I trialled describing a dangerous uterine ‘hyperstimulation’ pattern (too many contractions, too frequently). The app did not differentiate this from a normal ‘active labour’. As a clinician, if I had a patient in the hyperstimulation situation, I would want them to present urgently / contact urgently.
New Zealand relevance: Yes, relevant to a New Zealand audience.
