For Geiser, his wife's pregnancy suddenly unleashed as many worries as the same affective imbrications that were creeping under his skin with the increase of his partner's belly. Somehow, "oblivious" to the process, the future father entrusted himself with the responsibility of keeping them safe, and to do so, like so many other people, he took the imperative of seeking digital advice.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- Geiser Arecio Pérez Rivas learned an important lesson from all this: in the virtual world there is a lot of nook and cranny without the proper academic backing. With this conviction, he took on the challenge of creating e-Embarazo, a web platform dedicated to providing reliable and up-to-date information about this process and the health of the mother and her baby.
He assures that as a graduate of Computer Science, and with more than 15 years of experience in the development of integral IT solutions, he glimpsed the way and brought together the necessary professionals to validate this tool that seeks, at the distance of a click, to get closer to the family and empower future mothers and health professionals.
He says that the challenge was great, because from the very beginning, the aim was to create a consultation site with a scientific approach and a rigorous validation process, but at the same time with a language accessible to all, as this would ensure its effectiveness. The aim was, at the same time, to position it in the Internet search engines (SEO in Spanish) and thus make it a free tool for everyone.
PROJECT INSIDE
Geiser is not alone in this venture. He says that to date he is made up of eight people, all medical professionals, committed to health education and he, as a computer scientist, will be in charge of all the technical parts and the positioning of the topics. To his satisfaction, as of the date of this paper, the site had registered more than 206,000 visits over two years and shows an excellent growth trend.
From the beginning, we had only one aim: to create a platform that would simply help people who are looking for information on pregnancy," says the IT specialist. We did a lot of research and concluded that there are a lot of articles on the subject, but most of them are of dubious origin or quality, lack bibliographic references, the websites are not supported by medical institutions, and the sources of information are mostly focused on health professionals.
"We also noticed that in several cases access is paid for, that much high-value information is blocked for Cuba, and we concluded that a large percentage does not respond directly to the needs of the population. This premise prompted us to work.
WHAT DO THEY OFFER?
"So far, we have managed to make an overview of about 450 medications, as well as other substances, and we provide files on the use of these in pregnancy, their teratogenic effects (how much they affect the fetus), in addition, we detail the influence of different foods in pregnancy, the myths surrounding them in pregnancy and interesting news that contribute to all.
"Our doctors answer users' questions and we provide first-hand information on eating habits: the properties of fruits, and vegetables, from the neighborhood and the Cuban reality. In turn, we touch on the topics of alcohol consumption, smoking, sexually transmitted diseases, and tips for good physical and mental hygiene.
"We firmly believe that every woman has the right to accurate and truthful information to make informed decisions about their health and that of their baby, e-Embarazo is an inclusive and friendly space, designed to address the concerns and specific needs of them and the rest of the house that looks forward to the growth of their nucleus.
"We are in the digital precincts because the new generations look here first and, unfortunately, teenage pregnancy is increasingly notorious in the country. We want to bring peace of mind and knowledge and, above all, we want to be close to Cuban families".
IN SEARCH OF SUPPORT
In this project, three Tunisian professionals are committed to making culture for health a reality. They come from different areas and are constantly studying to offer readers the most up-to-date knowledge. Their achievements are spontaneous and born of camaraderie.
Its creators admit that e-Embarazo has very ambitious goals and wants to position itself as an indispensable reference in the field of maternal-fetal health at a global level.
To achieve this, they do not do things by halves, they defend a solid base of scientifically validated content, a structure that is accessible to all audiences, and they also count on the good vibes of a team that wants to make itself known and opens its doors to all those who, under these feelings, want to contribute to society with their grain of sand.