As a leading pregnancy and babycare site and app in Southeast Asia (SEA), theAsianparent regularly spends hours in their product team meetings, analysing user behaviour. One time, the team noticed an “odd pattern” where heavy users would suddenly stop using the pregnancy tracker feature on the app.
Initially, they attributed the change to usual stuff such as mothers getting too busy with birth preparations to update the app. But then they uncovered the truth.
“We dug deeper and uncovered the painful truth that it was because they had experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth. And with horror, we realised that we were sending them push notifications about the upcoming arrival of their child when they were already grieving,” explains Roshni Mahtani Cheung, Founder & Group CEO of theAsianparent, in an email to e27.
The findings had led theAsianparent to start Project Sidekicks, a new initiative that aims to tackle the issue of high stillbirth rate in SEA. With the goal to reduce stillbirth rates in the region by 10 per cent over the next three years, there are three directions that the company is taking with its platform:
1. Content
The company aims to raise awareness of stillbirth risks and prevention through articles, videos, and infographics across its platform and partner media.
2. Community
It also provides support to parents who have experienced stillbirth and assist through their recovery process.
3. Tech
And finally, the company launches new functions to help reduce stillbirth: Kick Counter, Professional Advice, and Timely Notifications.
Saving lives
In Southeast Asia, stillbirth rates remain high with countries such as Indonesia having the highest rate. According to statistics, 13 out of 1,000 births in the country are stillbirth.
But the good news is that, according to the WHO, about one-third of these cases are actually preventable. For example, in the third trimester, parents are encouraged to track their child’s movements and seek medical help when they notice anything unusual.
In the platform developed by theAsianparent, this effort is represented through the Kick Counter feature on their app which helps mothers count fetal kicks in a gamified manner.
The Kick Counter feature. Image Credit: theAsianparent
Other ways to help prevent stillbirths is by having mothers to sleep on their side which theAsianparent encourages through social media campaigns such as #SleeponSide.
The team is also aware that stillbirth is a sensitive topic for discussion.
“theAsianparent approach to tackling any topic, from the most benign to the most taboo, is one that is non-judgemental. We focus on providing information, letting our readers decide what perspective they take,” Cheung explains.
“For this campaign, it was vital that we had medical experts to help us with that information. Mums and dads were able to access them too, through our webinars these past few months, covering topics like mental health during pregnancy and the importance of kick counting,” she continues.
Members of its community also take part by sharing their experiences.
“The project name SideKicks also expresses how theAsianparent is right there with mums and dads in this journey and throughout their parenthood. And the amazing part always is that we create these campaigns for the community, but they’re the ones who grow it and drive it. That really is the beauty of what theAsianparent has become and stands for,” Cheung says.
What is next
Project Sidekicks was launched in July and theAsianparent continues to work with different partners to promote it.
“With our mission to help 100 million families have healthy pregnancies and families, we find Project Sidekicks at the core of what we’ve set out to do,” Cheung says.
In 2021, at the next phase of the project, the company plans to expand their coverage to include miscarriages and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
“I know that baby loss is such a tough, heavy topic to bring to light and discuss openly. That only means that there are so many questions unasked, stories never told, support never given, advice never heard,” Cheung stresses.
“So we are committing to this cause, with the hope that it makes a difference. Just one life saved through Project Sidekicks will make every second and cent that has gone into the campaign, worth it millions and billions of times over,” she closes.
The post How theAsianparent aims to help reduce stillbirth rates in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.