Govt launches ‘Mero Poshan Sathi’, mobile app for new mothers

Kathmandu, Aug. 28: Nepal government has launched a mobile application ‘Mero Poshan Sathi’ (My Nutrition Companion) to assist new mothers in taking care of themselves and their children. The mobile application can be helpful for women during the 1,000 days that cover pregnancy, childbirth and care of the child until his/her second birthday, authorities informed.

The application was created by the Family Welfare Division (FWD) under the Department of Health Services (DoHS) of the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), in coordination with the USAID’s Suaahara Project, a scheme aimed to ensure good nutrition.

The application was launched formally in a programme by three couples, including one waiting for a child, one with a two-month-old daughter and one with a 17-month-old daughter, in the presence of Minister for Health and Population Mohan Bahadur Basnet in Lalitpur on Sunday.

“The ministry will coordinate with local and provincial governments to make the application known to more and more individuals. This is a step to prevent diseases in citizens due to lack of awareness. Prevention is always better than cure,” said Minister Basnet. 

Speaking at the programme, Patricia Mengech, Director at USAID Nepal’s Health Office, informed that a study under the Suaahara Project showed that 73.8 per cent of Nepali mothers used a smartphone and over 50 per cent had access to the Internet.

“We should prioritise eHealth in the digital age. The application will help reach thousands of mothers and help them understand healthy steps for themselves and their newborns,” said Mengech .

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines eHealth as the cost-effective and secure use of information and communications technologies in support of health and health-related fields, including healthcare services, health surveillance, health literature, and health education, knowledge and research.

Informing about the mobile application, Dr. Bibek Kumar Lal, Director at the FWD, said that it was designed to uphold the norms of the National eHealth Strategy 2017, Digital Nepal Framework 2019 and National Nutrition Strategy 2019. 

“Effective counselling in health institutions is difficult because of the crowd, but mothers need to be aware of the steps to take from the early stage of pregnancy to childbirth and childrearing to ensure sound health of the mother and child,” said Dr. Sangita Kaushal Mishra, additional health secretary at the MoHP.

According to Dr. Mishra, the mobile application will help disseminate proper awareness to the mothers and their family members. “The application can be downloaded by others as well. It also provides information on nutritious food recipes from locally available products, among others. Other family members can learn such things and help the mother during pregnancy and after childbirth,” she added.

Meanwhile, the FWD also informed of the availability of learning resources and online training courses by accessing digital library on its website. The library can be accessed via digitallibrary.fwd.gov.np. 

Activating the app  

The FWD informed that the mobile application can be searched under the name ‘Mero Poshan Sathi’ in the Google Play Store. “The application is available only for Android users now. We will soon bring it for IOS users as well,” said Dr. Lal.

After installing the application, an individual can register through one’s Facebook, Gmail and other email accounts. “There are different categories inside the application dedicated to mother and child. The application asks for some details, such as the menstrual cycle for women, the date of birth of the newborn and the weight and height of both mother and child, among others, to provide timely tips,” said Dr. Lal.

Since the application’s data are stored in the server of the Nepal government, an individual’s information will not be compromised, MoHP officials ensured.

Usefulness of the app

While registering in the application, one has to provide his/her address as well. It allows the application to send notifications regarding immunisation campaigns and provide details of nearby health centres to the user.

“Whether the child is fully vaccinated or not can also be kept in check with the application,” said Dr. Lal.

The application has audio, visual and textual content to educate users about nutritious food, including recipes with local products found across Nepal, for pregnant and new mothers alongside their newborns.

It also allows users to enter details on the food they consumed and the activities they performed. On the basis of the provided information, the application prepares the nutritious food value of the consumed food in graphs and numbers, so that it is easier for comprehension.

It also notifies women, every night at 8 pm, before and after pregnancy to take Iron-Folic Acid tablets. “Every week, four to five nutrition-related behaviours are sent to the application,” read a detailed statement on the mobile application. As the users can update the weight of their children, it allows the application to prepare a graph on the child’s development to ensure whether it is healthy or not.

“Nepal is struggling to make mothers understand the proper way of breastfeeding. It is great that the application has provided information through cartoon images on the best ways to breastfeed,” said Dr. Mishra. 

The application also has awareness resources for teenage girls regarding menstrual health.  Other individuals can also download the application because it allows any user to keep in check their body mass index (BMI).

“Nepal government can also use this application to send important notices and information during epidemics and serious situations,” said Dr. Lal.

Talking to The Rising Nepal, Dr. Lal said, “Health personnel across the health centres in the country will be directed to make pregnant women and new mothers download the application.

“Nowadays, we can see how easily Nepali women of every age are using mobile applications. They can also get used to our application because it is available in the Nepali language, alongside English, and uses the Nepali calendar for ease,” said Dr. Lal.

“We will make it easier and better with feedback from the users as it can be updated through the Internet with repairs,” said Dev Kumari Guragain, Secretary at the MoHP.