Meet Lisa Golds. A digital mental health app to promote parent-infant bonding. The TeamDr Lisa Golds is an Innovation Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Drawing on several years of experience in perinatal mental health research, focusing on the potential impacts of parental smartphone use, Lisa aims to harness co-design methods to create resources for parents, with parents. Feasibility testing of a digital mental health app is currently funded by the Wellcome / EI Translational Support Fund. Problem Smartphones are pervasive, with up to 98% of parents owning one. Yet, 70% report being distracted by their devices, which can harm infant development through language delays, behaviour issues and mental health risks, causing financial burden to health and social systems. During the first 1001 days, moments like infant feeding, which can total up to 8 hours daily, are key for bonding, but distracting smartphone use (often referred to as 'technoference') during this time reduces caregiver responsiveness, making it a prime target for intervention.SolutionLittle Moments is a unique digital application reducing technoference and boosting parent-infant bonding through brief, evidence-based mindfulness and bonding activities. We are currently developing the application with users. Unlike market competitors in mindfulness, it targets both parental smartphone use and parent-infant bonding as a dyadic mental health outcome; a gap overlooked by apps like Headspace, and Calm that focus solely on improving parental wellbeing.Contact Lisa Golds LinkedIn This article was published on 2025-10-28
