New app for moms-to-be

Picture: Ayanda Ndamane/ANA Picture

Australian Michael Brereton had a successful career as a lawyer representing clients like Kylie Minogue – and then he invented a pioneering virtual baby book and virtual baby visit system called Look@MyBaby.

He now lives in Phuket and oversees development and expansion of the concept globally. Look@MyBaby is now available in six countries so far including Malaysia, Dubai, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, South Africa. It allows the first moments of a newborn’s life and all their milestones thereafter to be shared safely with selected family and friends.

Mr Brereton recently paid a visit to the Origin Family-Centred Maternity Hospital in Panorama, where the technology is available. “Eight to 10 years ago I invested in the first global streaming technology from a camera at home to view on your laptop. A friend who was having a baby said it would be great to be able to use it to let friends and family watch the baby once it was born. We are now a prime family media platform that is encrypted and secure – where parents can share video clips and pictures of their baby with selected family and friends, all virtually.

“Clients today use their own phone or camera to take the photos and videos, and moms are given their own code, which they then choose who to share it with. In the next few months the app is set to become even slicker and Origin will have it first. Look@MyBaby will be a rich media source for the family; for example, you can keep your scans, baby hand and foot prints and even encrypted medical records on it. We are going to be adding lots more to it soon.”

General manager of Origin, Sydney Grove,said: “We were proud to also be the trailblazers when it came to introducing this new technology to South Africa. We are all about the best and most personalised service for our clients.”