The Best Pregnancy Apps of 2023
Starting a family opens up a whole new world. There’s so much to learn: When am I most likely to get pregnant? When will the nausea end? Are these contractions for real? Will I ever sleep well again?
But don’t worry, getting the answers you need during this exciting time can be as easy as downloading an app. Check out the best ones we found to guide you through every stage— from trying to conceive to tracking your baby’s growth to creating a registry:
Best App for Tracking Fertility and Ovulation
Ovia
Cost: Free
Knowing what’s what with your monthly cycle can make a huge difference when you’re trying to get pregnant. With the Ovia Fertility app, you can track your period and other fertility info like your morning body temperature and cervical fluid—if you want to—to find out when you’re likely to ovulate. The app lets you know what days you’re most fertile with a daily fertility “score” and clearly labels the best day to take a pregnancy test. Dealing with irregular periods? Ovia’s algorithm also makes predictions for cycles that are harder to pin down.
Best All-in-One Pregnancy App
Baby Center
Cost: Free
This all-in-one pregnancy app goes from tracking your ovulation to counting contractions and gives you the deets on everything in between. Get weekly updates about your stage of pregnancy with articles, slideshows and videos on topics relevant to what you’re going through right now (and your baby’s development), including special information for high-risk pregnancies. You can also take pictures of your growing bump to create a pregnancy journal and search the baby names database by meaning or theme to find a name you like. After you give birth, the app will automatically switch over to giving you parenting advice for baby’s first year.
Best App for Pregnancy Health
WebMD Pregnancy App
Cost: Free
Your body is about to go through some major changes. To learn about what’s happening at various stages of pregnancy, and how your peanut is growing too, the WebMD Pregnancy app sends you doctor-approved tips and health information. You can check out interactive images of your baby’s development, track your weight and blood pressure, and record the number of baby kicks your feel (something your OB will ask about at appointments). There’s also a symptom tracker and suggested questions to ask your doctor, so you’ll always be prepared for your appointments. During the third trimester, a checklist for what to pack in your hospital bag and a contraction counter come in handy. There’s also a special section of the app dedicated to information on having multiples, so this is also our pick for the best app for twin pregnancies! WebMD is available on iOS only.
Best App for Baby Registry
Babylist
Cost: Free
Preparing your home for the newest family member should be fun, not overwhelming. Anytime you come across a really cool gadget or the cutest-ever bodysuit you can add it to the Babylist Baby Registry App, no matter which store it comes from—big or small. It’s a one-stop registry for everything parents need to deck out the nursery, prepare for breastfeeding and even get support after birth (think: meal delivery, house-cleaning services or postpartum doula—yes, you can add those kinds of things!). Or, if you’d rather people contribute to a college fund, you can do that with this app too. Besides being a universal baby registry app, the Babylist app also features hundreds of helpful articles, sample registries and the ability to buy directly from the Babylist Shop!
Best App for Pregnancy Content
What to Expect
Cost: Free
It’s an app based on the website based on the book! The bestselling pregnancy reference guide now fits entirely into your pocket, complete with videos, week-by-week baby development tracking and, of course, all the information about pregnancy you could ever imagine. The bad news: the app isn’t as useful once you’ve had your baby.
Best App for Timing Contractions
Full Term
Cost: Free
Braxton Hicks contractions or the real deal? It can be hard to tell, especially as you get closer to your due date. But with this simple app, you can track your contractions and see if there’s a pattern that means it’s time to head to the hospital. Just hit one button to start and stop the contraction timer. Then check out the app’s reporting to see how long your contractions are (average duration) and how close together (average frequency). You can also add a note to each contraction entry, like how intense it was, and record when your water broke and the color of the fluid—something your doctor or midwife will want to know.
Best App for Pregnancy Meditations
Expectful
Cost: $12.99/month or $69.99/year
Worrying about your baby, pregnancy or what’s to come can fuel anxiety and stress, which isn’t good for anyone. To help you calm your mind, consider meditation. Expectful is a meditation app designed specifically for the journey to parenthood—from trying to conceive to pregnancy to postpartum. The guided meditations range from 5 to 20 minutes—they’re accessible for beginners and experienced meditators alike—and cover topics like emotional self care, sleep stories and IVF, plus weekly pregnancy meditations and daily postpartum meditations.
Best App for Week x Week Images
Sprout
Cost: Free
Curious what your baby actually looks like as they develop? The sprout app has a realistic, interactive week-by-week experience that highlights your baby’s major developmental milestones in any given week. This app also has features to help you stay organized throughout your pregnancy such as a To-Do list, hospital bag checklist, birth plan and a place to keep track of all of your doctor’s appointments. It even includes a pregnancy journal that you can export into an ebook for memories. When the time comes, there are also a kick counter and contraction timer.
Best Mindful Contraction Timer
Freya
Cost: $2.99
If you’re planning a medication-free birth, this is the app for you. It’s an extension of The Postive Birth Company’s hypnobirthing class. With soothing ambient music and a calm voice count down, this app not only times your contractions but also helps you breathe through them. You can make note of each contraction’s intensity and it’ll let you know when it detects a pattern consistent with “real” labor, meaning you’re ready to go to the hospital!
