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New UniSA App Empowers Mothers to Manage Mental Wellbeing

Having a baby can be one of life’s most exciting and rewarding experiences, but for a new mum it can also be an emotional rollercoaster – sometimes up and other times down. Recognising the symptoms of maternal anxiety and depression can be difficult, but with the help of a new app – developed by the University of South Australia and parent support group Village Foundation – thousands of women will be empowered to monitor their mental health, both during pregnancy and after birth.

The new YourTime app responds to priorities in perinatal mental health by providing a digitalised tool that enables women to self-monitor and track their mood during pregnancy and early mothering, helping them to recognise early signs of deteriorating mental wellbeing, or conversely acknowledge they’re doing well. It is the first evidence-based app to help women track their own mental wellbeing throughout pregnancy and after birth.

In Australia, up to one in five expectant or new mothers will experience perinatal anxiety or depression, with the illness affecting about 100,000 families each year. Lead researcher and midwife, UniSA’s Associate Professor Lois McKellar, says the new app will provide immediate support for women who may be struggling with low mood, or beginning to experience anxiety and depression.

Assoc Prof McKellar is one of UniSA’s mental health researchers highlighted as part of the UniSA’s Enterprising Minds for Mental Health appeal. Through the appeal, UniSA is asking for the public to join them in making mental health a priority by supporting such crucial research.

“It’s natural for women to worry about the impending arrival of a new baby – they’re bringing a new life into the world, and they’re unsure about the changes that this little baby will bring,” Assoc Prof McKellar says. “It’s also very common for new mothers to experience what is often called the ‘baby blues’ – being a little teary or anxious in the immediate days and weeks after the baby’s birth. But if these feelings start to cause concern or stop a new or expectant mum from functioning normally, she may be experiencing perinatal anxiety or depression.

The YourTime app will help a woman keep track of how she’s feeling during pregnancy and motherhood, enabling her quickly recognise any changes in mood, behaviours or feelings. Guided by a midwife avatar, women will be able to monitor their wellbeing over time, access education and support materials, as well as connect to other women and mothers via a networking forum.

“Importantly, it puts the woman in control, empowering her to be more aware of her thoughts and feelings,” Assoc Prof McKellar said.

The app is based on scientific evidence and has been designed with input from mothers to ensure it is appealing and appropriate for today’s women. Using a contemporary, easy-to-use design, it offers a de-medicalised approach to wellbeing and encourages women to think more about their mental health.

YourTime app hopes to prevent women and mothers from slipping between the gaps, especially when their focus is on supporting their new baby. “This app will ensure women feel connected, supported and informed at any time of the day or night – even at a midnight feeding – which makes it an extremely appealing tool to support mental health and wellbeing,” Assoc Prof McKellar stated.

A prototype version of the YourTime will soon be available for trial.

PARTNER

Qlik’s vision is a data-literate world, where everyone can use data and analytics to improve decision-making and solve their most challenging problems. A private company, Qlik offers real-time data integration and analytics solutions, powered by Qlik Cloud, to close the gaps between data, insights and action. By transforming data into Active Intelligence, businesses can drive better decisions, improve revenue and profitability, and optimize customer relationships. Qlik serves more than 38,000 active customers in over 100 countries.

PARTNER

CTC Global Singapore, a premier end-to-end IT solutions provider, is a fully owned subsidiary of ITOCHU Techno-Solutions Corporation (CTC) and ITOCHU Corporation.

Since 1972, CTC has established itself as one of the country’s top IT solutions providers. With 50 years of experience, headed by an experienced management team and staffed by over 200 qualified IT professionals, we support organizations with integrated IT solutions expertise in Autonomous IT, Cyber Security, Digital Transformation, Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure, Workplace Modernization and Professional Services.

Well-known for our strengths in system integration and consultation, CTC Global proves to be the preferred IT outsourcing destination for organizations all over Singapore today.

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Planview has one mission: to build the future of connected work. Our solutions enable organizations to connect the business from ideas to impact, empowering companies to accelerate the achievement of what matters most. Planview’s full spectrum of Portfolio Management and Work Management solutions creates an organizational focus on the strategic outcomes that matter and empowers teams to deliver their best work, no matter how they work. The comprehensive Planview platform and enterprise success model enables customers to deliver innovative, competitive products, services, and customer experiences. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, with locations around the world, Planview has more than 1,300 employees supporting 4,500 customers and 2.6 million users worldwide. For more information, visit www.planview.com.

SUPPORTING ORGANISATION

SIRIM is a premier industrial research and technology organisation in Malaysia, wholly-owned by the Minister​ of Finance Incorporated. With over forty years of experience and expertise, SIRIM is mandated as the machinery for research and technology development, and the national champion of quality. SIRIM has always played a major role in the development of the country’s private sector. By tapping into our expertise and knowledge base, we focus on developing new technologies and improvements in the manufacturing, technology and services sectors. We nurture Small Medium Enterprises (SME) growth with solutions for technology penetration and upgrading, making it an ideal technology partner for SMEs.

PARTNER

HashiCorp provides infrastructure automation software for multi-cloud environments, enabling enterprises to unlock a common cloud operating model to provision, secure, connect, and run any application on any infrastructure. HashiCorp tools allow organizations to deliver applications faster by helping enterprises transition from manual processes and ITIL practices to self-service automation and DevOps practices. 

PARTNER

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and business services provider. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

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