SmartParent was conceptualized as a follow-up to the SmartMom program, which was developed to provide prenatal education through text messaging to expectant mothers. SmartParent and SmartMom are led by academic researchers from UBC in collaboration with Optimal Birth BC. Optimal Birth BC has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute in Vancouver, BC to optimize practices for improved maternity care and to provide expectant and parenting families with evidence-based information to promote informed decision-making. It is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of nurses, midwives, family practice physicians, obstetricians, pediatricians, psychologists, educators, policy planners, researchers and representatives from the BC Ministry of Health and BC Health Authorities.
Canadian technology company, MEMOTEXT, helped us build the tools to deliver SmartParent. SmartParent is grateful for the generous support of its funders: The BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, The UBC Hampton Research Endowment Fund, and The Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies. SmartParent is endorsed by the Canadian Paediatric Society (CPS)
