Pregnancy Tracking Apps: What They Actually Record

If there's one thing all expectant parents (men and women) should do during the nine months of pregnancy, it's make the most of it. Fortunately, there are apps to track pregnancy that make this period easier.

Therefore, to help you understand more about the apps to track pregnancy, I prepared today's article on the subject. Interested in finding out more? So follow me now!

Apps to track pregnancy

My Pregnancy Day by Day

When a child is in the womb, parents' anxiety about meeting them is immense and they would like to see in detail what happens there during pregnancy.

With the My Pregnancy Day by Day app, every question that arises has an answer through videos, guides and experiences from other mothers.

Totally Pregnant

Totally Pregnant is another of pregnant women's favorite applications, with reliable information about your baby's growth, your health status, items you need for your care, advice and even curious facts about fetal development.

For each of the weeks, there are videos from experts, 3D animations of what the baby looks like in the womb, and videos from other mothers at the same stage of pregnancy. Additionally, it offers in-app purchases for yoga classes, prenatal meditation, and even some postnatal ones.

I’m Expecting

In fact, with the I'm Expecting application, you can compare your symptoms with those of other mothers, monitor the clinical tests carried out, your weight during pregnancy, keep the countdown to the birth and participate in the online forums and discuss these questions with other users of the application.

In short, it shows weekly updates and pregnancy videos and also allows you to create a pregnancy photo diary.

Calculadora de gravidez

When there's a baby on the way, the question everyone wants to know is when will he be born? With this application, the date can be predicted without much hassle.

Its operation has two options, one to calculate the date of birth and another to calculate the date of pregnancy according to the expected date of delivery. The app also tells you the likely date of conception and when it ends each quarter.

Gravidez+

Pregnancy+ is a personalized application that offers complete information about what is needed to have a safe and healthy pregnancy.

In it, you can track the baby's weight and development, and you can get information about the diet and exercise the mother needs.

It also has a kick and contraction counter, high-resolution images of the fetus and belly, a due date calculator, among others.

It is one of the most popular applications and recommended by medical professionals.

Meu Pré-Natal

In short, it contains daily articles that describe what is happening to the mother and baby's body. Plus, it lets you track exercise, mood, baby movements, cravings, and more in a personal diary.

In fact, you can take and share photos and create an album with weekly images.

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How to choose between the options

• Integration with certified device. When there is a real measurement, it comes from equipment with a sanitary registration — the app only receives the number.
• What the app actually does. Recording information is different from measuring. Health apps organize data that you or a device provide.
• Who developed it?. Give preference to apps from healthcare institutions, universities, or companies with an identified technical manager.
• What happens to your data?. Health data is sensitive. Check if it's being shared with third parties and if it's possible to delete everything.

The limits: what no app does

This is the part that almost no list mentions, and it's precisely what separates expectation from result.

• The cell phone does not measure blood pressure, glucose, body temperature, nor does it perform imaging tests. There is no sensor for that in the device.
• They don't provide diagnoses. No app can replace a professional evaluation.
• An app that promises to detect disease through photos, sounds, or questionnaires is not supported by any evidence — seek professional help.
• They are not a substitute for prescribed medication or treatment, and should not be used to guide dose changes.

Common questions

Is this something I need to take to the doctor?

Yes, and that's its greatest benefit: an organized history with dates and values greatly shortens the search time.

Does the app actually measure it?

No. It records what you type or what a certified device sends. The cell phone does not have a sensor for blood pressure, glucose, or medical imaging.

Is there an app that detects disease?

Not reliably. Screening tools may suggest seeking care, but they don't diagnose.

Can I stop taking the medication if my numbers improve?

No. Any change in treatment needs to be decided with the professional who is following the case.

Is step counting reliable?

It's an estimate. It serves to track trends over time, not as an exact measurement.

How to use it in practice

1. Generate the report before the query. Exporting as a PDF and having it printed or on your phone greatly shortens the conversation.
2. Write down the value along with the time. Date and time transform random numbers into useful historical data for the professional.
3. Always register at the same time. Measurements taken under similar conditions are what allow for comparison. Also note the context: fasting, after exertion, on a stressful day.
4. Use certified equipment when taking measurements. The cell phone doesn't measure; the equipment with sanitary registration does the measuring. The app only stores the number.

What goes wrong most often?

• Swap in-person consultations for apps — none of them provide diagnoses.
• Install an app that promises to detect disease through photos, sounds, or questionnaires.
• Taking estimated steps, sleep, or calories as an exact measurement—that's an approximation using a motion sensor.
• Changing medication dosage based on a number seen in the app.

The alternative that is already included in the system

Android and iPhone already come with a native health app that consolidates steps, sleep, and measurements sent by other devices, with privacy controls by data type. It's usually the safest place to store your history, and you can export it to take to your doctor.

How the app calculates the weeks — and why the doctor corrects it.

Every pregnancy app asks for the date of your last menstrual period and uses that to create the entire calendar. The calculation is the same one used in obstetrics for decades: gestational age is counted from the first day of the last menstrual period, and the estimated due date is calculated by adding 280 days, or 40 weeks.

There's a consequence that confuses many people: in this method, the pregnancy is already counted as two weeks before fertilization even occurs. This isn't an error in the app. It's a convention, and it exists because the date of menstruation is known with precision, while the date of conception almost never is.

Therefore, the gestational age estimated by the app may differ from that estimated during prenatal care. The ultrasound performed in the first trimester measures the embryo and allows for dating the pregnancy with a small margin, and this is the reference that prevails when there is a significant difference. Irregular cycles, long cycles, and uncertain menstruation increase the discrepancy.

It's important to remember the obvious fact that the interface hides: the estimated due date is a statistical estimate, not a scheduled date. Only a minority of pregnancies end exactly on that date. The term considered to be between 37 and 41 weeks and a few days.

The prenatal calendar is what actually tracks the pregnancy.

The app shows the baby's size compared to a piece of fruit. Prenatal care shows if everything is alright. These are things of very different magnitudes, and it's worth knowing the structure of the care offered free of charge by the SUS (Brazilian public health system):

• Early start. The recommendation is to start prenatal care in the first trimester, ideally before 12 weeks.
• Minimum number of consultations. The Ministry of Health establishes a minimum of six prenatal visits, with the frequency increasing as the pregnancy progresses — monthly until around 28 weeks, bi-weekly until 36 weeks, and weekly thereafter.
• Routine checkups. Blood typing and Rh factor, complete blood count, blood glucose, serological tests for syphilis, HIV, hepatitis and toxoplasmosis, urinalysis and urine culture, among others, repeated at defined times.
• Vaccination. Pregnant women have their own vaccination schedule, with vaccines recommended during pregnancy to protect both mother and newborn.
• Pregnancy card. This document compiles all the information and should accompany the pregnant woman to any appointment.

An app can help you remember dates and organize questions. It doesn't replace any of those steps, though.

What is worth noting to take to the appointment?

The most productive use of these apps is as an organized notebook. This often leads to useful conversations with whoever is monitoring the progress.

• Symptoms, including date and intensity. Nausea, heartburn, bloating, pain, sleepiness — described with when it started and what makes it better or worse.
• Medications and supplements taken, ...including teas and natural products. Many over-the-counter products are contraindicated during pregnancy, and this list needs to be complete.
• Questions noted throughout the week. During consultations, we always forget half of it.
• Test results photographed and stored in order.
• Perception of movements From the moment they become regular, pay attention to changes in pattern.

It needs to be clear what is not a record, but rather a measurement: the cell phone does not measure blood pressure, glucose, ultrasound, or fetal heartbeat. There is no sensor in the device capable of any of these functions. Apps that claim to measure blood pressure via camera or detect the baby's heartbeat via microphone deliver invented numbers or noise, and trusting them can delay necessary care. Blood pressure, glucose, and fetal well-being are assessed with specialized equipment at a healthcare facility.

Signs that require immediate attention.

No questions about symptoms can be answered by an app, and some signs require seeking medical attention immediately, at any stage of pregnancy:

• Vaginal bleeding.
• Loss of fluid from the vagina.
• Severe and persistent headache, especially with visual disturbances, pain in the pit of the stomach, or sudden swelling in the face and hands.
• Fever.
• Reduction or absence of fetal movements, after they were previously observed regularly.
• Regular contractions before 37 weeks.
• Severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, or difficulty breathing.

It's a good idea to save the address of the referral maternity hospital, the health unit's phone number, and a photograph of the pregnant woman's card on your cell phone in an easily accessible location. Now that's smart use of your phone.

Pregnancy data is sensitive data.

Health information has enhanced protection under the General Data Protection Law, and pregnancy data is among the most commercially valuable data available—the advertising industry knows that this phase is central to purchasing decisions for years.

Before dumping your entire routine into an app, it's worth checking:

1. Who is responsible for the app? And if there is a privacy policy in Portuguese, with a channel to request the deletion of data.
2. Is registration really necessary?. Many work offline, saving everything on the device.
3. What permissions were granted?. A pregnancy journal doesn't need contacts, a microphone, a precise location, or access to all photos.
4. If there is sharing with third parties For marketing purposes. It's usually written in a paragraph somewhere in the middle.
5. What happens if a pregnancy is terminated?. It's important to know how to delete the account and all history, because continuing to receive weekly notifications in this scenario is cruel.

One final recommendation regarding the communities and forums embedded in these apps: they are very helpful for emotional support but terrible as a source of medical advice. Another pregnant woman's account is personal experience, not clinical guidance. Each pregnancy has its own unique context, and the only source that knows yours is the team providing your prenatal care.