Pregnant women at risk of gestational diabetes to receive health coaching for UCD-led study
3 June 2025
A forthcoming UCD-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 (opens in a new window)Dr Sharleen O’Reilly from the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, the Bump2Baby&Me+ study has received €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’Reilly’s 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’s 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%.
“Our 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,” explained Dr O’Reilly.
“This 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.
“The 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.”
By: Rebecca Hastings, Digital Journalist, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
