title: Development and Pilot Testing of the Eating4two Mobile Phone App to Monitor Gestational Weight Gain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The number of pregnant women with a body mass index (BMI) of 30kg/m(2) or more is increasing, which has important implications for antenatal care. Various resource-intensive interventions have attempted to assist women in managing their weight gain during pregnancy with limited success. A mobile phone app has been proposed as a convenient and cost-effective alternative to face-to-face interventions.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper describes the process of developing and pilot testing the Eating4Two app, which aims to provide women with a simple gestational weight gain (GWG) calculator, general dietary information, and the motivation to achieve a healthy weight gain during pregnancy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The project involved the development of app components, including a graphing function that allows the user to record their weight throughout the pregnancy and to receive real-time feedback on weight gain progress and general information on antenatal nutrition. Stakeholder consultation was used to inform development. The app was pilot tested with 10 pregnant women using a mixed method approach via an online survey, 2 focus groups, and 1 individual interview.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Eating4Two app took 7 months to develop and evaluate. It involved several disciplines--including nutrition and dietetics, midwifery, public health, and information technology--at the University of Canberra. Participants found the Eating4Two app to be a motivational tool but would have liked scales or other markers on the graph that demonstrated exact weight gain. They also liked the nutrition information; however, many felt it should be formatted in a more user friendly way.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Eating4Two app was viewed by participants in our study as an innovative support system to help motivate healthy behaviors during pregnancy and as a credible resource for accessing nutrition-focused information. The feedback provided by participants will assist with refining the current prototype for use in a clinical intervention trial.
authors.affiliation: The University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia. Cathy.Knight-Agarwal@canberra.edu.au.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0121-4900
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Knight-Agarwal
authors.forename: Deborah Lee
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2041-1064
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7860-0319
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6117-2872
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Davey
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.forename: Adam
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5901-6897
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Clarke
keywords: antenatal care; intervention; maternal obesity; mobile phone; pregnancy