Bupa Family Moments iPhone App

Bupa Family Moments iPhone App

Parents are going gaga for their child's first step, and mum trumps dad when it comes to baby's first word, according to a recent Bupa Family Moments survey.
Interestingly, a third of Aussie parents revealed they refrain from sharing on social media for fear of annoying friends and family.

The launch of the free Bupa Family Moments iPhone™ app provides a platform for parents to share their children's precious journey with friends and family in a private, invitation-only forum. The survey revealed parents ranked a child's first step as the biggest baby milestone, followed by their first word which was typically mum. These types of special moments can now be safely shared through pictures and extended detail with loved ones whether near or far.

Sharing the baby love was identified as an important part of parenting, with mums and dads taking an average of 1000 baby photos in their child's first year, while others admitted to keeping pregnancy sticks, umbilical cords, first locks of hair and fingernail clippings.

Bupa ambassador, champion Olympic swimmer and father of three, Matt Welsh, said: 'Those early milestones are just so special and often you want to shout about them from the rooftops.

'The great thing about the app is that you can invite those close friends and family who can't get enough – like the grandparents who don't want to miss a beat – and they can opt in to be updated about every little milestone along the way."

The app, developed in conjunction with the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, puts everything in one easy-to-access place and includes functions to help parents stay on top of the demands of early childhood, with up-to-date health information, immunisation schedules, and growth charts for parents to keep track of their children's height and weight progress up to three years of age.

Bupa Head of Medical Services, Dr Bert Boffa, said the app balanced the fun and joy of capturing precious baby achievements while informing parents of important milestones that reflect their children's growth and development.

'Our children are all individuals and while it is true they develop at different rates, it's important for parents to understand how their kids are progressing in relation to conventional child development milestones," Dr Boffa said.

'We know parents feel bombarded with competing child health advice, so we've worked closely with the Royal Children's Hospital to develop an advice hub of highly credible information that Australian parents can trust."

The reference section features information and practical advice on key childhood development topics including dental, growth and development, food and nutrition, health, immunisation, parenting and safety.

For snap-happy Bupa members or for purchase by non-members, the app includes an extended Australian first function: a TimeCam to capture a child's growth in images over time and compile these photos into a sharable time lapse movie.

Bupa Family Moments is a free, Australian-only download from the App Store for iPhone™, iPod Touch™ or iPad™ devises running iOS 5.0 or later. The app is a guide only and those seeking medical advice should consult their general practitioner.

For more information, or to download the app, go to www.bupa.com.au/familymoments

Bupa Family Moments iPhone app Key Features
Family Moments timeline: The secure, easy-to-use timeline allows users to share their children's events and milestones, comment on and -hug' posts from family and friends. Posts can be accompanied by photos, captions and geographic locations. Users can tag others to indicate who was present and assign the update to a category milestone.

Selected updates can be posted to user's wider Facebook network, if desired.

Growth charts: The generated graphs take data inserted upon sign-in (child's height, weight, age) and track their progress up to three years of age.
Multiple children can be tracked on separate graphs to show individual height and weight progress.

Glossary: With content developed in conjunction with the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, the resource is a go-to hub for information and practical advice on dental, growth and development, food and nutrition, health, immunisation, parenting, safety and sleep.

TimeCam: Unique application captures children's growth over time with photos compiled to make a time lapse movie.
Reminders prompt users to take daily photos of their child.
Once video is completed, the time lapse movie can be posted on the Family Moments timeline or to wider Facebook networks if desired.
This function is free for Bupa members and costs $4.49 in-app purchase for non-members.