A transformational partnership is improving breastfeeding outcomes

Working in partnership with a top-rated app

Working in partnership with the team at Anya, HCRG Care Group launched a pilot scheme in August 2021 to offer premium access to the Anya app for free, for three-months post birth, to parents in the Lancashire-12 region. The app, previously known as LatchAid™, is a pioneering, successful and well-regarded app, having been named as the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA’s) top-rated app for breastfeeding. It uses cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) and 3D technology to help parents and parents-to-be learn parenting and breastfeeding skills intuitively using smart technology.

The app, which is Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) compliant, also provides evidence-based information, chat communities, expert webinars, videos and articles as well as triage to a human specialist for additional support. All of this complements the support our healthcare professionals already offer and is available to users 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, on iOS and Android mobile devices.

As well as the app, the team worked with Anya to develop signposting resources for colleagues to use with parents. Onboarding materials and demonstration videos for healthcare professionals were created to help them understand how to use the app. A range of promotional materials, containing QR codes, were designed and printed to both capture parents’ attention and provide them with immediately downloadable information.

A co-branded landing page was set up (http://anya.health/lancashire-hcrg) and this enabled the organisation to monitor click throughs from our own website. Email marketing was used to welcome new users, check-in with them and gain their feedback on their experience of using the app.

AI supporting healthcare professionals

The pilot scheme was initially intended to last six months and was originally funded through the Health Foundation and Innovate UK. However the pilot was extended and funded further so a full 12 months of user and impact data could be accessed.

The data showed that, over the course of 2022, there was an encouraging increase in the percentage of users in the most deprived areas of the region, from 13.4% to 20.9%, with a surge in enrolment numbers following the app’s launch on Android in November 2022.

The AI support that the app offers has been particularly well received by users, with an 87% success rate in answering questions on topics such as milk supply, pain and weight gain concerns. This has led to a reduction in the need for specialist support and freed up our healthcare professionals to focus on more complex, high needs cases. However, when additional support has been required, the average response time has been two and a half hours, including throughout the night with 50% of support being sought by users outside of office hours.

Katie Wharton, HCRG Care Group Lancashire’s Infant Feeding Lead, said: “Anya by LatchAid™ offers our teams, parents and families a safe place to get evidence-based information in a way that’s accessible, inclusive and available, 24/7. We’re seeing increased referrals into our service via the collaborative package we provide with Anya.”

Premium access to support families

What’s also been encouraging is that 81% of users said they would recommend the app to other parents, with one user commenting: “I think the app is absolutely amazing. When my health visitor gave me the information I thought, this is what I needed three years ago with my first baby. There’s so many times where I just want a quick check in to see if I’m doing the right thing or if there’s something else I should be doing.”

Another user said: “I really like this app; I’ve struggled with getting my baby to latch. However since watching, the virtual latching video has helped me. I have found the chats area of the app helpful and it’s also quite reassuring to see other parents having similar issues/concerns as sometimes you can feel quite isolated. So far the app has helped me to feel more confident in my feeding techniques.”

Now with over 1,000 users in the region, the positive impact the app has created has led to HCRG Care Group establishing a formal partnership with Anya so they can offer parents premium access to the app, free of charge, for their entire pregnancy plus five months after and continue to support more new families, as well as current users, in 2023.

The data, which was independently analysed by the University of Exeter, also showed the positive impact that the app has had on breastfeeding behaviours in the area.

Exclusive breastfeeding is now more prevalent at 6-8 weeks, with a 25% increase from birth amongst the Anya cohort. Combi feeding has become less prevalent at 6-8 weeks with a 25% decrease from birth. There has also been a 1% increase in Lancashire-wide exclusive breastfeeding, from 3,120 families in Q3-4 to 3,422 families in Q1 of 2023.