Mumsnet launching app to turn phones into baby monitors

Other applications will include tools to help mother's create a film of their pregnancies

Founder Justin Roberts said that the site needed to be more responsive to customers who accessed it on their mobiles (Getty)

The Mumsnet website is launching a series of apps that can turn phones into baby monitors and can enable mothers-to-be to make films covering every day of their pregnancy.

The site’s founder Justine Roberts told The Independent that the site, which has become a favourite recruiting centre of MI6, needed to be more responsive to users that want to access its content on their phones.

Roberts said that 60 per cent of Mumsnet’s traffic is via mobile and as well as creating an app for the site’s busy forums, it is launching two more to cover the subjects of pregnancy and early parenthood.

It was revealed last week that, following pressure in parliament, MI6 is turning to Mumsnet to find more female staff, posting job advertisements for three senior roles including field agents and technology specialists.

Roberts has now decided to up Mumsnet’s game in terms of its own sophisticated gadgetry. Its new applications include some innovative ideas, such as a tool that allows expectant mothers to film their pregnancy. “You take a photo every day of your bump and get a stream of photos of you growing,” says Roberts.

The “neat little tool” is part of a Mumsnet Pregnancy app, which is the natural precursor to the Mumsnet Baby app, which covers the first year of parenthood. The latter offers the opportunity to turn your phone into a baby monitor, although Roberts agrees that this prevents the handset being used for calls. Medical advice is provided on the apps from the online GP service Doctor Care Anywhere.

Roberts is supporting a Sky Academy project to encourage more women into the technology sector and to give young people greater confidence in pursuing their chosen career paths. “We need work experience programmes and apprenticeships that enable people to try new things and develop skills,” she said. Employers, including the Secret Intelligence Service, should take note.