Maternal and Child Health App 'Boshimo' Launches in Akabira City, Hokkaido!

The maternal and child health app 'Boshimo,' operated by Boshimo Inc., has been introduced in Akabira City, Hokkaido, and will be available as the 'Akabira Maternal and Child Health Handbook App' starting April 1st (Wednesday).

Akabira City promotes a basic philosophy of 'A city where everyone supports shining parents, and where people want to give birth, raise children, and continue living.' The city is advancing urban development that supports the healthy growth of children across the entire community, allowing parents to give birth and raise children with peace of mind.

This time, 'Boshimo,' which allows paper maternal and child health handbook data to be recorded digitally and has been introduced in over 830 municipalities, has been adopted. The operation begins in line with the policy of the Children and Families Agency to utilize electronic versions of maternal and child health handbooks and promote maternal and child health DX.

'Boshimo' is an app that easily supports vaccination schedules, health check results management, and local information distribution via smartphones, tablets, and PCs. Since data is stored in the cloud, it serves as a backup in case the physical handbook is lost due to disasters, and it supports continuous use when moving to other municipalities or changing devices, ensuring peace of mind.

◆ Launching 'Boshimo' in Akabira City, Hokkaido, which promotes an environment where families can live easily!

Akabira City is working to reduce the economic burden on child-rearing households by making childcare fees free for children aged 3 and older, as well as for second and subsequent children entering childcare facilities, and by reducing childcare fees for other children by 50% of the national collection standard.

Furthermore, the city fully subsidizes the costs of general health checkups and ultrasound examinations for pregnant women to enhance health management for both mother and fetus. It also provides individual visits upon request to reduce anxiety during pregnancy and support birth preparations. Post-delivery, the city implements a 'Postpartum Care Project' to provide consultation on rest, childcare, and breastfeeding, creating an environment where families can live with peace of mind.

'Boshimo' was adopted as a new tool for disseminating childcare information to help families utilize these municipal initiatives more conveniently.

◆ Thoroughly supporting pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare with a community-based childcare app!

The 'Akabira Maternal and Child Health Handbook App' adopted by Akabira City is a service compatible with smartphones, tablets, and PCs. It is packed with convenient features to help busy mothers and fathers, such as recording and managing health data for pregnant women and children, managing vaccination schedules, providing advice on childbirth and childcare, sharing functions with grandparents living in distant areas, and notifying users of local information distributed by the city.

'Dekitayo Kinenbi' (Milestone Diary), which can be used as a childcare diary, was created based on the Children and Families Agency's maternal and child health handbook templates. It allows users to record developmental stages and childcare milestones, including 'parental records,' along with photos and messages, and also serves as a guide for child growth and development.

In addition, even when social environmental changes occur due to infectious diseases, the app allows the city to immediately deliver important information, such as warnings and advice from public health nurses, to those who need it via text or video, supporting an environment where childbirth and child-rearing can be done with peace of mind even in emergencies.

<Comment from Mayor Wataru Hatakeyama of Akabira City, Hokkaido>

Akabira City has introduced the 'Akabira Maternal and Child Health Handbook App' starting April of the 8th year of Reiwa, allowing residents to record and manage information on pregnancy, childbirth, and child-rearing on their smartphones. In addition to recording and sharing the child's growth and development, the app also delivers information on child-rearing distributed by the city.

A child's growth is an irreplaceable time for a family. I hope this app will serve as an opportunity to record, look back on, and support each other through those precious days.

<Main functions of the 'Akabira Maternal and Child Health Handbook App'>

[Guidance on various systems and services provided by the municipality] - Information and procedures for various subsidy systems suitable for pregnancy and childcare periods, such as child medical expense subsidy systems and child allowances. - Various notifications distributed by the municipality.

[Recording and Management] - Pregnancy physical condition and weight records (graphed). - Fetal and child growth records (graphed). - Confirmation of obesity/thinness levels using height and weight curves (graphed). - Vaccinations: Automatic display of standard vaccination dates, management of vaccination schedules and records, and alerts to prevent missed vaccinations. - Health check information: Recording health check data for pregnant women and children.

[Information Provision and Advice] - Basic information on childbirth and childcare. - Knowledge and advice tailored to the stage of pregnancy and the child's age. - Videos on how to bathe a baby and prepare baby food. - Information on surrounding facilities (hospitals, kindergartens/nursery schools, parks, childcare facilities, etc.).

[Childcare Diary: Milestone Diary] - Record the child's growth along with photos. - Upload photos with 'First Milestone Templates' that include dates and words for anniversaries (approximately 150 items can be recorded, such as first fetal movement, kick, rollover, sitting, crawling, standing alone, walking alone, etc.).

[Data Sharing] - Child growth records and health data can be viewed on family members' smartphones, etc., and can also be posted on SNS.

Our company has set a vision of reducing the friction coefficient related to pregnancy and child-rearing to zero. To realize this, we are promoting further expansion and coordination of support areas (maternity checkups, vaccinations, infant checkups, etc.) through 'Kosodate DX®,' the development of all-in-one applications and procedures related to child-rearing, and the coordination of maternal and child health information with relevant institutions (medical, childcare/education, specialized institutions, etc.). Through this, we aim to reduce the 'anxiety and burden' of parents and co-create a 'safe and simple' child-rearing society with local communities.