Appiwork business development manager Zoe Hida recently released Peaceful Pregnancy, an app four years in the making that provides women with affirmations and meditations to support them during pregnancy.

Ms Hida came up with the idea while she was pregnant with her second child, realising there was very little in the way of meditation apps available.

She said pregnancy is often portrayed with imagery of smiling expectant mothers, giving the false idea that it is simple.

“At least from my experience, and my friends’, pregnancy can be really challenging,” she said.

Women who download the app can read positive affirmations that have been created to suit every stage of pregnancy, as well as fertility and parenthood.

Users can choose to receive reminders for affirmations based on their stage of pregnancy, how often they would like to receive them and at what time of the day.

All the affirmations and meditations were created by Ms Hida, who reflected upon her concerns during pregnancy and those of her friends, and they have been approved for use by health professionals.

“I started creating the content for this app and I’ve had it reviewed by doctors and one of my friends, who is an IVF specialist,” Ms Hida said.

Peaceful Pregnancy has been downloaded more than 150 times so far and the feedback from users has been very positive.

“They find the meditations very soothing and one woman said the affirmations are very peaceful,” Ms Hida said.

Peaceful Pregnancy is available from the App Store for free and additional content can be purchased for a small fee.

Ms Hida is confident expectant mothers will benefit from using the app and strengthen the connection they have with their baby.

“It is always exciting when something like this comes out of Bathurst and I just want to get it into as many hands as possible,” she said.