Maternal and Child Health Handbook App 'Boshimo' Launches in Kihoku Town, Mie Prefecture!

The maternal and child health handbook app 'Boshimo', operated by Boshimo Co., Ltd., has been introduced in Kihoku Town, Kitamuro District, Mie Prefecture, and has started its service as the 'Kihoku Maternal and Child Health Handbook App' from Wednesday, April 1. Under the basic philosophy of 'Creating a town where children can be born safely and raised healthily', Kihoku Town is working to create an environment where people can feel the joy of childcare by responding to the diverse needs of child-rearing households. This time, 'Boshimo', which allows data from paper maternal and child health handbooks to be recorded digitally and has been adopted by over 830 municipalities, was selected. Operations will begin in line with the Children and Families Agency's policy of utilizing digital versions of maternal handbooks and promoting maternal health DX (*1). 'Boshimo' is an app that easily supports the management of vaccination schedules, health checkup results, and the distribution of local information via smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Because data is stored in the cloud, it serves as a backup in case the paper maternal health handbook is lost due to disasters, and it also supports continuous use when moving to other municipalities or changing devices, allowing for continued use with peace of mind. ◆ Launching 'Boshimo' in Kihoku Town, Mie Prefecture, offering a reassuring childcare environment through long-term support! To provide seamless support from the pregnancy period through the child-rearing period, Kihoku Town has established the 'Kihoku Town Childcare Generation Comprehensive Support Center'. The center addresses anxieties and difficulties regarding pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare, not only for the individuals but also through consultations from family members, working alongside relevant organizations to create an environment where children can be raised with peace of mind. Furthermore, the town has established a support system that allows for reasonable child-rearing, such as providing temporary childcare services that can be used when guardians cannot take care of their children due to work or illness. This time, to make the town's initiatives more conveniently accessible to child-rearing households, 'Boshimo' was adopted as a new tool for disseminating childcare information. ◆ Solidly supporting pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare with a community-based childcare app! The 'Kihoku Maternal and Child Health Handbook App' adopted by Kihoku Town is a service compatible with smartphones, tablets, and PCs. It is packed with useful features to help busy mothers and fathers with childcare and work, such as recording and managing health data for expectant mothers and children, managing vaccination schedules, providing advice on childbirth and childcare, sharing functions with grandparents and family members living far away, and notifying regional information distributed by the town. The 'I Did It Anniversary', which can be used as a childcare diary, was created based on the maternal and child health handbook format examples from the Children and Families Agency. It not only allows for the recording of developmental stages and childcare-related anniversaries with photos and messages, including the 'Guardian's Record' of the maternal health handbook, but it also serves as a guideline for children's growth and development. Additionally, even when there are societal environmental changes due to factors like infectious diseases, the app supports the creation of an environment where pregnancy and childcare can be done with peace of mind during emergencies. Important information, such as warnings from the municipality and advice from public health nurses, can be immediately delivered to those who need it via text or video through the app.