HappyMums

HappyMums is an innovative European research project aimed at expanding our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms behind the development of depressive symptoms during pregnancy and assessing the effectiveness of interventions. The project incorporates a wide range of biological, medical, clinical, socio-demographic, environmental, and lifestyle data to identify both the triggering risk factors and the moderating factors associated with depressive symptoms.

By meticulously analyzing extensive cohorts and integrating human samples with animal models, HappyMums aims to investigate the influential elements that shape the impact of identified risk factors on perinatal mental health. An essential objective of the project is to identify new targets for the development of novel medications, repurpose existing medications, or devise non-pharmacological interventions.

Ab.Acus leads the development and deployment of the project’s digital platform, bringing together human-centred design, passive monitoring methodology and AI-driven data collection into an integrated system built for real-world clinical use. The platform consists of a mobile application for pregnant women, enabling continuous data collection on lifestyle and behaviour through both passive monitoring and guided active input and supporting peri-natal mental wellbeing through a mum-to-be course, and a dedicated clinical dashboard that serves as the interface between healthcare providers and their patients. The dashboard allows the visualisation of collected data and integrates AI tools to support early screening of depressive symptoms, prompt diagnosis, personalised treatment planning, clinical decision support, and the promotion of protective lifestyle attitudes. Developed through a rigorous co-design process involving clinicians, researchers and end users across multiple European countries, the platform is now deployed across 7 clinical sites in Europe and actively used by over 1,000 people — making it one of the very concretely deployed digital health tools to emerge from a Horizon Europe project.

HappyMums not only seeks to advance knowledge in the field of mental disorders during pregnancy but also strives to improve the well-being of pregnant women. Ultimately, our efforts will provide unprecedented benefits to both the women themselves and their offspring, thereby benefiting the entire society.