Maternal and Child Handbook App 'Boshi-mo' Launched in Akabira City, Hokkaido!

　Boshi-mo Co., Ltd.'s maternal and child health handbook app 'Boshi-mo' has been introduced in Akabira City, Hokkaido, and will be available as the 'Akabira Boshi-techo App' starting April 1st (Wednesday).

　Akabira City promotes community development where children can grow up healthy with the support of the entire community, and where people can give birth, raise children, and continue to live with peace of mind, based on the basic philosophy of 'Akabira, a town where everyone supports shining parents and children, where people want to give birth, raise children, and continue to live.'

　This time, 'Boshi-mo', which allows paper maternal and child health handbook data to be recorded as digital data and has been introduced in over 830 municipalities, was adopted. Its operation will commence based on the use of electronic maternal and child health handbooks by the Children and Families Agency and the policy of promoting maternal and child health DX ※1.

　'Boshi-mo' is an app that easily supports vaccination schedules, health checkup result management, and local information distribution on smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Since data is saved in the cloud, it serves as a backup in case of loss of the maternal and child health handbook due to disasters, and also supports continuous use when moving to other municipalities or changing models, allowing users to continue using it with peace of mind.

◆Akabira City, Hokkaido, promoting an environment where child-rearing families can live comfortably, launches 'Boshi-mo'!

　Akabira City is working to reduce the economic burden on child-rearing households by making childcare fees free for children aged 3 and over, and for the second and subsequent children entering childcare facilities, including supplementary meal costs. For other children, childcare fees are reduced by 50% of the national collection standard amount.

　In addition, the city fully subsidizes the costs of general prenatal health checkups and ultrasound examinations during pregnancy to enhance health management for pregnant women and fetuses. Upon request, individual visits are made to alleviate anxiety during pregnancy, support childbirth preparations, and provide consultations, thereby supporting health management during pregnancy. Furthermore, after childbirth, the city implements a 'postpartum care program' where mothers can rest physically and mentally and consult about childcare and breastfeeding concerns, creating an environment where child-rearing families can live with peace of mind.

　This time, 'Boshi-mo' was adopted as a new tool for disseminating child-rearing information, aiming to help child-rearing families utilize the city's initiatives more conveniently.

◆Community-based child-rearing app provides comprehensive support for pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing!

　The 'Akabira Boshi-techo App' adopted by Akabira City is a service compatible with smartphones, tablets, and PCs. It is packed with convenient features that help busy mothers and fathers with child-rearing and work, such as recording and managing health data for pregnant women and children, managing vaccination schedules, providing advice on childbirth and child-rearing, sharing functions with family members such as grandparents living in distant areas, and notifying local information distributed by the city.

　The 'Dekitayo Kinenbi' ('I Did It Memorial Day'), which can be used as a child-rearing diary, was created based on the Children and Families Agency's maternal and child health handbook format examples. It can record developmental stages and anniversaries related to child-rearing, including the 'Parent's Record' section of the maternal and child health handbook, along with photos and messages, and also serves as a guideline for children's growth and development.

　Furthermore, even when social environmental changes occur due to infectious diseases, the app can instantly deliver important information such as alerts from the municipality and advice from public health nurses to those who need it via text and video, supporting the creation of an environment where people can give birth and raise children with peace of mind even in emergencies.

＜A message from Wataru Hatakeyama, Mayor of Akabira City, Hokkaido...