Momba

Care for postpartum family

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Inspiration

Our inspiration was wellness for women. To create a platform that could support and provide the necessary help to moms with Postpartum depression and their loved ones. After some research about mental health issues in postpartum families we came up for 4 main reasons why we wanted to pursue this.

Postpartum depression (PPD) affects up to 15% of mothers Depression meds through breast milk is dangerous for infant. The negative short-term and long-term effects on child development are well-established. PPD is under recognized and under treated. Concerns of breastfeeding mothers about exposure of the infant to antidepressant medication.

What it does

The web application provides user with personalized service via a chatbot that tailors recommendations each individual's needs. It provides with real-time help to users. The chat bot will help patients feel at ease when sharing their feelings, which according to research were deemed to be embarrassing or relating to guilt in new mothers. A platform that can provide unbiased opinions/recommendations could help distressed patients receive the help they need. There will also be a survey that has been used for research before which can enable our application to score the patient based on their answers to close ended questions, the score being indicative/confirmation of depression.

How I built it

We used a Python backend and used Flask to connect it to React. We used Javascript, HTML, and CSS to construct our UI. We also used the react simple chat box from the npm package.

Challenges I ran into

None of the team members were very familiar with React which was a challenge for our team. Integration and use of Flask and machine learning was a challenge as well. The connection between front-end and back-end. Due to the sensitivity of the data(data on patients with postpartum depression/distress) and privacy policies that protect patient information, we found that although there were a lot of research studies that provided macro statistics there were no open data sets we could use. For this reason we had no backing for our machine learning functionality. However, as the users grow we are hoping to use their feedback, reviews and common ailments and possible trends to properly implement a machine learning aspect to our application.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We were able to select a good layout for our front-end. We also were happy that we figured out how to connect the full application.

What I learned

We all learned how to use Flask and React.

What's next for Momba

In the future Momba will be able to use large data sets to train itself to provide better insights such as product recommendations (paid ads or top used products that the population has used for similar ailments/problems). The machine learning aspect of the application will ensure that all users are given accurate and reliable information based on trends observed in the larger dataset (as users grow). Lastly, we would like to enable a feature that helps women find groups close to them for support meetings and other activities that can be seen on the website calendar based on the geographic location.

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