Milktrack: Design and development of mobile application and logistics system in empowering breastfeeding practice in the Philippines

”All for Health towards Health for All” has been the campaign of Philippine Health Agenda for Healthy Philippines by 2022. And one of the strategies to attain the goals of this agenda is to invest in information technology. It has been proven internationally that intervention such as mobile and web technologies provide numerous advantages to improve the health care system of the general public. This technology intervention would help reduce cost, lessen errors and enhance patient and healthcare systems commitment. In this paper, the researchers present the development of a mobile application, Milktrack, that will help the Filipino people in achieving one of its goals in health care which is to reduce infant mortality rate as well as to prevent under-nutrition and stunted growth among children through empowering the breastfeeding practice in the country. The features of the mobile application will include (1) information and tutorials about breastfeeding, (2) breastfeeding station locator, and (3) a platform for breastmilk donor to donate their excess and for recipients to have available supply most of the time. The paper also covers the establishment of the logistic system for proper acquisition of donated breastmilk, transport and delivery of the breastmilk to the recipients. To let this kind of mobile health application be effective, it should be designed, and developed properly. As part of the design of the application, the researchers also presented the validation of the mobile app user experience based on its usefulness, perceived usability and user-friendliness. The data were gathered through survey and questionnaires.