Smart Healthy Baby is an app meant for all parents specifically the mothers who wish to not miss out on any of the nutritional aspects that are key for bringing up a smart and healthy baby. If nutrition is taken care of in the early part of a child’s life – more importantly from conception to two years of age and upto five years of age the child will potentially continue to grow well in terms of physical and mental growth. In the early phase of a child’s life the most important nutrition comes in the form of mother’s milk. Mother’s milk contains all the nutrition that is required for an infant to grow into a healthy child. It is extremely important that no child misses the mother’s milk unless the mother is incapable of providing her milk to the infant due to exceptional medical or other serious reasons.
In the present times it has been observed that many mothers are unable to feed their milk to the infant for the entire period recommended owing to several reasons including lack of support & encouragement to the mother soon after child birth, spread of myths regarding breastfeeding and promotion of formula milk by vested interests. Also, it has been observed by experts that many mothers are unaware of the correct latch on and feeding techniques causing the child to not gain desired weight. It is extremely important that the mother, with help and support of the loved ones, breastfeed the infant within 30 – 60 minutes of birth. The first milk of the mother (colustrum) provides nutrition to the infant rich with calories and other micronutrients etc that are vital for the health and immunity of the infant. Further the mother must continue to exclusively breast feed the infant upto six months. During this time it is important for the mother to know the correct latch on techniques and the best practices related to breast feeding so that child continues to gain desired weight. Lack of gain in weight as per the WHO charts may be a sign of your infant/child not receiving sufficient nutrition.
After six months of age it is equally important for the child to receive in addition to breast milk complementary nutrition through prepared food. There are many key facts and best practices regarding complementary nutrition which if missed again may make your child undernourished limiting her growth. Many of the key facts and information regarding breast feeding and complementary feeding are not known even to the most educated mothers. This app is meant to be an essential guide to nutrition for pregnant mothers and infants from birth upto the age of two years in the spirit of bringing up a smart and healthy baby. The app provides vital information on nutrition for the mothers during their pregnancy and lactation period. It also provides information and videos related to breastfeeding including best practices, latch on techniques, favourable positions for feeding, myths etc. Information and ideas on complementary feeding of the infant is also provided.
This App has been developed by Shruti Gupta at IIT Bombay with inspiration provided by Dr. Rupal Dalal and many other people associated with her who are passionate about preventing malnutrition among children anywhere in the world. For any feedback or suggestions regarding this App please write to nutritionmotherbaby@gmail.com
