Gaps and Future Challenges of Italian Apps for Pregnancy and Postnatal Care: Systematic Search on App Stores.

Background: Despite the availability of thousands of health apps worldwide, when considering those addressing children's first 1000 days of life, most apps fail to consider the continuity between the prenatal and postnatal stages, and their joint impact on maternal and child health. The reliability, quality, and effectiveness of these apps are largely unknown, and the provided content seems questionable in terms of completeness, updating, and trustworthiness.

Objective: This study evaluates available Italian pregnancy and postnatal care apps to highlight the main gaps to be overcome and the resulting future challenges to be met in this mobile health-related field.