Apple watchOS 11 brings physical and mental health tracker for moms-to-be

Pregnancy is often a time of excitement, change, and — let’s be real — a lot of “is this normal?” questions. From unpredictable cravings to shifting moods and an ever-changing body, expectant mothers are constantly trying to keep track of both their physical and mental health. Enter Apple watchOS 11. The new Apple Watch OS update comes with a feature that has been designed specifically for pregnancy. This feature will also be available by default in the new Apple Watch Series 10. But what makes this update stand out from the crowd? Dr Lauren Cheung, an internal medicine physician who works on Apple’s Health products, told us all about the feature, why it was developed, and how it works.
Dr Cheung, who has long been involved in the digital health space, emphasises the significance of these new features in making the chaotic journey of pregnancy a little smoother. “There is so much that can change in your physical and mental health during pregnancy and while you’re probably paying even closer attention to your data than usual, it can be hard to understand what’s normal and not,” she explains. “And now, with these new pregnancy updates, the Health app can help you to better understand that data by making adjustments and recommendations to reflect those changes.”
The watchOS 11 comes with a new feature for gestational age tracking and symptom logging in the Cycle Tracking app. “Cycle Tracking shows your current gestational age and allows you to log symptoms for common pregnancy experiences like appetite changes. This way, you can see when you were pregnant across all your Health app charts,” says Dr Cheung.
But what does this mean in practice? Instead of trying to remember when your pregnancy cravings kicked in or how your body felt during a particular week, the app tracks and visualises these changes. The days you’re pregnant show up in green, while future days are outlined with a dashed line — essentially giving you a roadmap through your pregnancy. The goal? To help moms-to-be easily recognise patterns and make informed decisions.
Pregnancy isn’t just a physical transformation — it’s an emotional rollercoaster, and mental health is just as crucial as physical well-being. Apple has integrated regular mental health assessments into the Health app, specifically for pregnant users. “Maternal health is a global health issue with mental health being particularly important. And at Apple, we believe mental health is just as important as physical health. Pregnancy is a transformative period that often brings significant changes to a person’s physical and mental health. Your body changes, it can become physically uncomfortable, you’re experiencing a range of hormones that impact how you’re feeling, and you might be losing sleep — it can be a lot,” Dr Cheung says. “That’s why we’ve made it possible for pregnant users to be reminded to take mental health assessments more regularly,” she adds.
The feature also provides assessments covering risks for conditions like depression and anxiety, and can be shared with healthcare providers. “These assessments can help you determine your risk level, connect to resources available in your region, and create a PDF to share with your doctor, and if you log a pregnancy, you can opt to be reminded to take these more regularly.”
As pregnancy progresses, it’s not just your belly that grows — your centre of gravity shifts, and balance becomes more challenging, particularly in the third trimester. Enter the Walking Steadiness feature, available on iPhone. Dr Cheung breaks it down: “Balance and stability typically go down during the later stages of pregnancy, which may increase your risk of falling. For users who are in their third trimester of pregnancy, the Walking Steadiness feature can alert them more quickly when their Walking Steadiness reaches a low or very low level.”
The feature is a lifesaver, quite literally. Falls during pregnancy can be dangerous, and having an early alert system allows users to take preventative measures, such as adjusting their movement or seeking support, before a fall occurs.
The walking steadiness feature already exists on Apple Watch. However, the feature has now been integrated within the pregnancy tracking feature.
With all these new features, there’s bound to be concern over data privacy. “Privacy is so important when it comes to your health data,” says Dr Cheung. “Your information in the Health app, including pregnancy data, is encrypted on a device and only accessible with your passcode, Touch ID, or Face ID, and it is never shared without your explicit permission. We believe your data is yours, and only you should choose if you want to share it and with whom.”