Hannah Harvey, 28, works at Worthing Hospital as a midwife for Western Sussex Hospitals. The mother of two launched the app ‘Ask the Midwife’ in July to provide new or soon to be mothers with professional midwifery advice. The app allows mothers to log on and pitch a question to one of 40 midwives on hand to provide an answer within one hour. Hannah said: “We currently have 40 midwives working to answer the questions asked. We aim to provide an answer within one hour but we usually respond in about ten minutes. “I got the idea for the app when my second child was eight weeks old. I was off work and missed being a midwife. I hope this app can lift the strain on the already stretched NHS.” Hannah won a competition in November to have her app retweeted by business and retail entrepreneur Theo Paphitis as part of his ‘Small Business Sunday’ scheme. Hannah added: “So far, 3,500 people have downloaded the app and we have a social media following of 15,000. “Like for any new business, it’s been tough trying to raise the profile of Ask The Midwife and ensure all expectant women hear that we are available to help them. “A friend told me about Small Business Sunday so I thought I’d give it a shot. I was so excited when Theo recognised my innovative idea and helped spread the word about what we do to his followers. Who would have thought a simple re-tweet could lead to so many good things.” The app is free to download on iOS along with one free question. The app then makes a charge of £1.99 for each question. Hannah hopes to launch an Android version in 2017. Don’t miss out on all the latest breaking news where you live. Here are four ways you can be sure you’ll be amongst the first to know what’s going on. 1) Make our website your homepage 2) Like our Facebook page 3) Follow us on Twitter 4) Register with us by clicking on ‘sign in’ (top right corner). You can then receive our daily newsletter AND add your point of view to stories that you read here. And do share with your family and friends - so they don’t miss out! Always the first with your local news. Be part of it.
