Maternal and Child Health Handbook App 'Boshi-mo' Launches in Minamiaizu Town, Fukushima Prefecture!

Boshi-mo Co., Ltd.'s maternal and child health handbook app 'Boshi-mo' has been introduced in Minamiaizu Town, Minamiaizu District, Fukushima Prefecture, and began offering services as 'Minamiaizu Town Child-Rearing Support App' on April 1 (Wednesday).

Minamiaizu Town's basic philosophy is to be "a town where people can think, 'It was good to raise children in this town, and it was good to grow up in this town,'" promoting town development that protects children's rights and health, and allows for safe childbirth and child-rearing with community-wide support.

This time, 'Boshi-mo,' which allows digital recording of paper maternal and child health handbook data and has been adopted by over 830 local governments, was chosen. Its operation begins in line with the Children and Families Agency's policy to promote the utilization of electronic maternal and child health handbooks and maternal and child health DX*1.

'Boshi-mo' is an app that easily supports vaccination schedules, health checkup result management, and local information distribution via smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Since data is stored 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 another municipality or changing devices, allowing users to continue using it with peace of mind.

◆'Boshi-mo' Launches in Minamiaizu Town, Fukushima Prefecture, Where Comprehensive Support for Residents from Pregnancy and Childbirth to Child-Rearing is Available!

In May 2024, Minamiaizu Town established the Minamiaizu Town Child and Family Center "Egao Plus" within the Health and Welfare Division, aiming to create an environment where pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing can be done with peace of mind. Public health nurses, specialists (certified psychologists, speech therapists, childcare workers), and related organizations collaborate to carefully address all concerns related to pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing, such as infant health checkups, vaccinations, development, and school life.

Furthermore, for nursery fees for children under 3 years old not covered by national free education, half of the total nursery fees for the relevant fiscal year are subsidized. In addition, to support parents raising children in the community, the town provides 100,000 yen worth of gift certificates usable in the town per child born, thereby reducing the burden on child-rearing households and creating an environment where children can be born and raised with peace of mind.

This time, 'Boshi-mo' was adopted as a new tool for disseminating childcare information, to make the town's initiatives more conveniently accessible to child-rearing households.

◆Comprehensive Support for Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Child-Rearing with a Community-Based Childcare App!

The 'Minamiaizu Town Child-Rearing Support App,' adopted by Minamiaizu Town, is a service compatible with smartphones, tablets, and PCs. It is equipped 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, a sharing function with family members like grandparents living in distant areas, and notifying users of local information distributed by the town.

The "Milestone Moments" feature, which can be used as a childcare diary, was created based on the Children and Families Agency's maternal and child health handbook format examples. It allows users to record developmental stages and childcare-related milestones, including the "Parent's Record" from the maternal and child health handbook, with photos and messages, and also serves as a guide for children's growth and development.

Furthermore, even when social environmental changes occur due to infectious diseases or other factors, important information such as alerts from local governments and advice from public health nurses can be instantly delivered to those who need it via text or video through the app, supporting the creation of an environment where childbirth and child-rearing can be done with peace of mind even in emergencies.

Minamiaizu Town is working to enhance a seamless support system from pregnancy to child-rearing through the operation of the Child and Family Center "Egao Plus." As part of this effort, we are launching the 'Minamiaizu Town Child-Rearing Support App.'

We encourage families to register and will strive to deliver useful information more effectively to everyone. Please utilize this as one of the tools for safe and enjoyable child-rearing while sharing your child's growth records.

We will continue to put effort into childcare support so that child-rearing generations will want to continue living in Minamiaizu Town.

[Guidance on various systems and services provided by local governments]

● Information on various subsidy systems and application procedures suitable for pregnancy and child-rearing periods, such as child medical expense subsidy system and child allowance

● Various notifications distributed by local governments

[Record and Management]

● Pregnancy physical condition/weight record (graphing)

● Fetal and child growth record (graphing)

● Confirmation of obesity/thinness level by height-weight curve (graphing)

● Vaccinations: Automatic display of standard vaccination dates, management of scheduled/actual vaccinations, reminder alerts for missed vaccinations

● Health checkup information: Record health checkup data for pregnant women and children

[Information Provision/Advice]

● Basic information on childbirth and child-rearing

● Knowledge and advice tailored to gestational weeks and child's age in months

● Videos on bathing and making baby food

● Guidance on nearby facilities (hospitals, kindergartens/nursery schools, parks, childcare facilities, etc.)

[Childcare Diary: Milestone Moments]

● Record child's growth with photos

● Upload photos with a "First Milestone Template" that includes dates and words for milestones (e.g., first fetal movement/kick/rolling over/sitting up/crawling/standing alone/walking alone, allowing recording of approximately 150 items)

[Data Sharing]

● Child's growth records and health data can be viewed on family smartphones and posted on social media

Our company's vision is to reduce the friction coefficient related to pregnancy and child-rearing to zero. To achieve this, we are promoting further expansion and integration of support areas through 'Child-Rearing DX®'*2 (prenatal checkups, vaccinations, infant health checkups, etc.), the establishment of an all-in-one application and procedure system for child-rearing, and the integration of maternal and child health information with related organizations (medical, childcare/education, specialized institutions, etc.). Through these efforts, we aim to co-create a "safe and simple" child-rearing society with local communities by reducing parents' "anxiety and burden."

Service Name: Minamiaizu Town Child-Rearing Support App
Monthly Fee (tax included): Free
Access Method

・App: Search for 'Boshi-mo' on App Store, Google Play
(Supported OS: Android 8.0 or higher, iOS 15.0 or higher)
・Web browser: Access https://www.mchh.jp 

*Even those not residing in the target municipality can use it, but please check the official website for information specific to your municipality.
*The available functions may partially differ depending on your municipality.

*1: Children and Families Agency website "Children's Policy DX Promotion Initiatives Policy 2025 Reference Materials Collection"

https://www.cfa.go.jp/assets/contents/node/basic_page/field_ref_resources/6cfab22c-d2bf-4dd1-81ea-49308519ac3a/6f948f38/20250630_councils_kodomo_seisaku_DX_6cfab22c_08.pdf

*2: Details of 'Child-Rearing DX®' service here https://www.mchh.jp/boshimo-kosodatedx

*'Child-Rearing DX' is a registered trademark of Boshi-mo Co., Ltd.

*Google Play and Android are trademarks or registered trademarks of Google LLC.

*App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

*iOS is the OS name of Apple Inc. iOS is a trademark or registered trademark of Cisco Systems, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and is used under license.