Pregnant women at risk of gestational diabetes to receive health coaching for 小鸟体育-led study
3 June 2025
A forthcoming 小鸟体育-led study will use an app to connect pregnant women at risk of gestational diabetes with trained health coaches to provide personalised support.
Led by from the 小鸟体育 School of Agriculture and Food Science, the Bump2Baby&Me+ study has received 鈧2 million partnership funding from Horizon Europe, with the Health Research Board as the Irish national funder.
Launching in June, the new study builds on Dr O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 Bump2Baby and Me project, a clinical trial that tested the app and digital health coaching within a controlled setting.
The trial showed promising results, including a significant increase in breastfeeding, a reduction in gestational diabetes incidence and improved weight management.
The new study will translate the earlier research into real-world practice, testing it as a digital support within busy maternity hospitals in Dublin, as well as Granada in Spain, Kristiansand in Norway and Szczecin in Poland.
Researchers will monitor the health of participants during their pregnancies, and every woman identified as being at risk of developing gestational diabetes will be offered the health coaching programme.
This will provide participants with personalised support in areas including diet, exercise, mental health and baby care, from early pregnancy to nine months postpartum.
The programme鈥檚 app includes a tailored resource library, goal-setting and tracking features, and secure communications with a personal health coach.
Gestational diabetes affects approximately 7,000 pregnancies in Ireland each year, and roughly half of women affected will go on develop type 2 diabetes in the future. The researchers are aiming to reduce this future risk of diabetes by up to 50%.
鈥淥ur goal is to build on the promising results from the original Bump2Baby and Me trial and see if we can translate those findings into new countries and whole maternity hospitals,鈥 explained Dr O鈥橰eilly.
鈥淭his will allow our project partners to develop and roll out a sustainable prevention programme in the future that empowers women, supports clinicians, and integrates directly into routine maternity care.
鈥淭he end-game would be to have it rolled out in maternity services across Europe to improve the health of women at risk of pregnancy complications and also give their children the best possible start to life.鈥
By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, 小鸟体育 University Relations
To contact the 小鸟体育 News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie