MomWay: A human-centered mHealth app prototype for postpartum wellness

Objective To describe the formative development of MomWay, a human-centered mobile health (mHealth) prototype designed to support postpartum mothers during the critical recovery period following childbirth. Methods We employed a user-experience design approach using the double diamond framework and product design guidelines. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three postpartum mothers in a U.S.-Mexico border community in this exploratory, formative prototype-design study to explore postpartum experiences, barriers to care, and support needs. Interview data were synthesized through needs identification, affinity mapping to identify user need categories, followed by competitive benchmarking, and persona development. These insights informed iterative development of medium-fidelity prototypes. Results Mothers described reliance on internet searches for postpartum information, frustration with overwhelming or contradictory guidance, and limitations in existing maternal health apps particularly related to mental health support and comprehensive recovery tracking. Six categories of user needs emerged: reliable information, educational resources, tracking and management, mental health support, personalization, and improved functionality compared to existing apps. The resulting MomWay prototype proposes design features for personalized onboarding, physical and mental health recovery tracking, curated educational resources, support groups, appointment management, AI-assisted question answering, and direct provider communication features. Conclusions Formative human-centered design methods enabled translation of postpartum mothers’ needs into a digital health prototype addressing access-related, cultural, and informational barriers in postpartum care. MomWay demonstrates how early-stage user research can inform mHealth intervention development in culturally diverse communities. Future work will evaluate usability, feasibility and implementation.