Students create app for pregnant mothers

As part of its commitment to lifelong learning, the University of Cundinamarca, moving beyond models that simply transmit knowledge and information, focuses on a shift from education for doing and working to education for being. For this reason, it encourages students to innovate and reinvent their learning process within the classroom. From this perspective, nursing students Juanita Reyes Moore, Andrés Felipe Lizarazo Calderón, Sara Alejandra Prieto González, Elizabeth Gómez Munevar, and Catherine Martínez Mora one day began researching maternal morbidity and mortality statistics in the country. Their idea was to explore the possibility of developing a graduation project in this area.

As a result of that consultation, alarming data emerged regarding maternal mortality and complications during and after childbirth. Therefore, with the help of Professor Carlota Castro in the "Integrally Training Young Researchers" program, they undertook the task of creating an application to help eliminate this social problem.

The defining characteristic of the University of Cundinamarca is its focus on science, technology, and research, reflected in academic products that serve social, regional, and economic development and contribute to problem-solving. “Based on this approach and within the framework of the undergraduate project 'Technology and Community Prenatal Care in Vulnerable Areas of Girardot,' we created the Maternap application.”.

That's how we began fieldwork, visiting all five districts of Girardot. Slowly but surely, we sought out pregnant women, women who had recently given birth, or women who wanted to become pregnant. With this technological assistance, we provided them with comprehensive medical care and explained everything related to using the application we had developed for them, which connects with their healthcare providers (IPS and EPS) and social service agencies once they enter their information.

They spent half a year doing that exhausting fieldwork, going door to door. “It was hard work that we started in June and finished in December. There, we taught them how to enter their data and use the application for everything related to primary health care, where we address diseases at their root and assess the needs of pregnant women so they can lead healthy lives. In this way, we help minimize the existing gap in this area.”.

However, gaining initial contact in each home was no easy task. “It was complex, because people are distrustful and it’s not easy for them to let themselves be judged by people they don’t know, but in the end we managed it.”.

The impact they have had is significant. Now, their contribution to future generations of students at UCundinamarca is a reality thanks to their research. “I am happy because this application will now be used by students in their final semesters, as it received excellent reviews in the area of prenatal assessment.”.

For all these reasons, today she reflects and acknowledges the UCundinamarca for the education she received from its knowledge managers, which provided her with the necessary training for life, democratic values, civility, and freedom. “I am grateful to the institution for educating me in values and ethics so that I could care for people properly, always respecting the patient's dignity. Now I feel that we are well-rounded professionals. I also owe it to the university for giving me the opportunity to demonstrate my full potential as a nurse and as a human being. Likewise, it allowed us to connect with a social reality in Girardot that we didn't fully understand.”.

Regarding her future, this nurse would love to work in public health. “I would like to pursue a master’s degree in that area because I would like to continue developing these types of projects that involve a lot of fieldwork and help the community in primary care.”.

That's why the words of the rector, Dr. Adriano Muñoz Barrera, echo in their heads. At their graduation ceremony this week, he told these nurses: "This is a path that closes but also opens, because the Transmodern Digital Educational Model, MEDIT, invites you to continue learning even after becoming professionals, together with your classmates, your family and your colleagues.".

More news from the Girardot branch at the News Agency