Most women in the UK gain more or less weight during pregnancy than recommended, which puts them and their babies at risk of medical complications. The BUMP2.0 study aims to test if women who are pregnant can engage with a mobile application (app) to regularly track their weight gain during pregnancy. 

Gaining weight during pregnancy outside of published recommendations (e.g. US Institute of Medicine), has been related to medical complications for the mother and the baby. Studies which have interviewed women during pregnancy have shown that they recognise that controlling their weight gain is important, but this is rarely discussed with their clinical team. Some women reported that they expected to be weighed during pregnancy, and that regular weighing should be part of routine antenatal care, but it is not. Trials which have trained midwives to regularly weigh women or to ask women to regularly weigh themselves, have not shown beneficial effects on gestational weight gain. However, these trials were either small, or reported low protocol adherence, or did not offer adequate feedback and advice in response to weight gain. Regular self-weighing has been shown to be an effective strategy for weight control outside of pregnancy, and if it can be enacted in pregnancy and help manage gestational weight gain, it could improve health outcomes for women and their babies.

If the study is feasible based on pre-specified progression criteria, we will progress to a bigger trial to investigate whether this app-based programme is effective in helping women manage their weight gain and improve health outcomes during pregnancy.

We have conducted interviews with four experts by experience who have been pregnant. They helped us to refine the research question, decide on the outcomes which are important, and refine the trial design and the app contents. They felt that women prefer to use an app than to be weighed by someone else, including a healthcare professional, but highlighted the importance of offering reliable resources, reassuring feedback, and avoiding “anti-fat” language. One of the women will join the research team as part of the project management group, ensuring that the patient voice is heard at all stages of this research. At the end, we will convene further interviews/a focus group with patient and public representatives to present the findings and seek feedback on how they interpret the data, and on the findings of importance to them. They will also provide input on the dissemination strategy and materials. 

• Gaining weight during pregnancy above or below recommended ranges, has been related to adverse outcomes for the mother and the baby, including gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and delivering a large or a small baby.
• If the BUMP2.0 study is feasible and women engage with the app to regularly monitor their weight gain during pregnancy, it will inform a bigger trial which will test the effectiveness of the app-based programme in helping women manage their weight gain and improve health outcomes during pregnancy.
• If the bigger trial shows that the app-based programme is effective, it could help prevent/manage adverse pregnancy outcomes, thus improving the health and lives of mothers and their offspring.
• The BUMP2.0 feasibility study is a crucial first step before the app-based intervention can be tested for effectiveness and later potentially become part of routine antenatal care to help women manage their weight gain during pregnancy.