Healthy Pregnancy Study

Pregnant women are one of the least studied populations in medical research. Despite numerous routine visits to the doctor to monitor basic physiological changes, there are still gaps in our knowledge about how these changes vary by sub-populations such as race, age, and pre-existing conditions, and how they may impact both maternal and fetal health outcomes.

The Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) has partnered with WebMD to conduct the Healthy Pregnancy Study, a long-term research project designed to improve understanding of pregnancy through the collection of survey and connected device data. Users of WebMD’s popular Pregnancy mobile app are able to participate in the study through the app by anonymously answering questions and sharing connected device data about their pregnancies with researchers for analysis.

The Healthy Pregnancy Study is investigating a broad range of questions to examine what factors contribute to positive pregnancy outcomes. Participants in the study are asked to share information about medication use, vaccinations during pregnancy, pre-existing conditions, weight changes, and many other factors.

One of the initial goals of the study will be to analyze weight change during pregnancy. For example, should a 5” tall pregnant woman gain the same amount of weight as a woman who is 5” 10? Presently, only 32% of pregnancy women gain weight according to the Institute of Medicine’s recommendations. By collecting the information in an app pregnant women already use, STSI researchers hope to gather a large data set across a diverse population enabling them to better describe how average weight gain varies depending on individual factors such as race, pregnancy number, height, age, etc.

To learn more about WebMD’s Pregnancy app and the Healthy Pregnancy Study, visit the App Store.

Press release

WebMD and Scripps Translational Science Institute Launch Study to Understand Factors That Contribute to Healthy Pregnancies