Free iPhone pregnancy apps

There's a lot for pregnant women to remember, and pregnancy can be a busy enough time as it is without trying to remember gynaecologists' appointments and what foods and vitamins you can and can't eat.

Michelle Starr Science editor

Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.

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Michelle Starr

May 27, 2010 7:54 p.m. PT

3 min read

This week, we're revving up for Mother's Day with a list of apps for women joining the ranks of the expecting...

	What to Expect: Pregnancy Tracker Everybody knows Heidi Murkoff's book, What to Expect When You're Expecting, the bestselling pregnancy handbook. This is what it looks like in app form. Once you've input your baby's due date, it will give you weekly updates on the changes your body is undergoing. You can scroll ahead, too, to check out what's going to happen in the coming weeks. A daily calendar offers you advice, such as exercise tips and foods that are safe for you to eat, and you can connect with other mums on the forum.
	50,000 Baby Names While technically there are, in fact, quite a lot of baby names within this app, take the claim of 50,000 with a grain of salt: many of them seem to be variant spellings submitted by users. If you have some spare time, you can scroll through and read up on the meanings of various names, and you can navigate easily through the alphabet. It also offers similar names to any name you select, and allows you to save names as favourites.
	iPregnant Free This is pretty much just a pregnancy calendar. It will show you basic details of your pregnancy's progression in summary form, such as the time left and how big your baby is, but the more useful feature is the calendar itself, which allows you to enter notes, such as keeping track of your mood, your weight and when you have medical appointments coming up (although it doesn't have the handy alerts that the iPhone's built-in calendar has).
	iStorkTalk iStorkTalk is a pregnancy community at your fingertips. It seems to be pretty buzzing, and offers a forum with different areas in which to seek and give support and advice. There's also a photo club, where you can share pictures of your pregnancy with other mums, and a game lounge where you can muck about if you're stuck in a gyno's waiting room. Be aware, though, that any advice you may receive is probably not coming from a professional; if you have health questions, save them up for your doctor.
	Pregnancy 411 by The Bump Think of this as a pregnancy FAQ on your iGadget. It answers common questions about things like "baby brain", what sorts of vitamins you should be getting, which activities are safe, and what tests you can expect during various stages. There's even a small section on popular names from various cultures. If you have questions of your own, you can post them, and other mums will answer, but as with iStorkTalk, be careful and don't take risks with advice from unknown sources.
	Baby Motion This app is pretty simple: it allows you to keep track of your baby's movements. A baby that is healthy and developing well moves fairly regularly, starting at around seven to eight weeks. The Baby Motion tracker will keep you up to speed (so to speak); if you notice any significant changes, you can then address them with your doctor. A built-in email feature also allows you to send activity reports to anyone who might be interested.