A SMARTPHONE app for women with a form of diabetes that develops during pregnancy is being made available for free across the NHS due to coronavirus.

Created by Sensyne Health, it was developed as a collaboration between Oxford University Hospital’s Women’s Centre and Oxford University’s Institute of Biomedical Engineering.

Sensyne has announced in light of advice for pregnant women to self-isolate it will make the app, called GDm-Health, free to NHS trusts for a year.

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Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) affects thousands of mothers-to-be in the UK each year and can lead to serious complications, including high rates of stillbirth and congenital anomalies.

Currently, the most common method of managing diabetes in pregnancy is via finger-prick blood glucose testing.

Oxford Mail:

However, the app enables women to connect a blood glucose meter to their smartphone using Bluetooth and then automatically collect blood glucose measurements.

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Lucy Mackillop , Chief Medical Officer of Sensyne and consultant obstetric physician at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) said: “I am pleased that GDm-Health is being deployed more broadly during this crisis to help this high-risk group receive their diabetes care safely at home. GDm-Health has made the transition to a commercial product and is already available across the NHS."

She said the app was the result of an 'enormous amount' of work by Oxford clinicians and academics.