Tovie AI is working with the University of Cambridge’s Department of Public Health and Primary Care on AIMI – a chatbot designed to help pregnant women access clear, personalised information about vaccinations recommended during pregnancy.
AIMI (AI for Maternal Immunisation) is a feasibility study led by Dr Mohammad S Razai at the University of Cambridge. The project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Three Research Schools Prevention Research Programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR 20400 – Prev).
The chatbot is designed to provide pregnant women with personalised, accessible information about three key vaccinations recommended during pregnancy: flu, whooping cough (pertussis), and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). The study will run at two antenatal clinics in South London and Cambridge.
The project takes a co-design approach. Six pregnant women of diverse ethnicities helped design the study from the outset. Pregnant women will continue to provide guidance as the project develops and will support the dissemination of findings.
Clinicians, including midwives, obstetricians, and GPs, alongside Tovie AI developers, are also involved in shaping how the chatbot works, what it says, and how it handles sensitive topics.
The chatbot is being designed to be accessible to women without personal smartphones, via computers available in community centres.
The AIMI feasibility study will recruit 30 pregnant women across the two antenatal clinic sites who are not fully vaccinated for the recommended vaccines.
The study will assess:
- How easy the chatbot is to use
- Whether women find it helpful and trustworthy
- Whether it answers their questions clearly and safely
- Any technical barriers to access
- Changes in vaccination intention and uptake, cross-referenced against medical records
- Feedback from pregnant women and clinical staff on trust, engagement, and usability
- Recruitment and follow-up rates, to inform whether a larger trial is possible
Tovie AI is contributing its AI expertise to the project through a structured discovery and build process. This includes co-designing the conversation flows, tone of voice, escalation pathways for sensitive queries, and the pilot operating model – working alongside the research team throughout.
The discovery phase involves a series of collaborative workshops covering solution design, conversation design, pilot planning, and security and NHS governance compliance review, concluding with formal stakeholder sign-off before any build begins.
This project is funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Three Research Schools Prevention Research Programme (Grant Reference Number NIHR 20400 – Prev).
The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR or the Department of Health and Social Care.
More information about the AIMI study is available on the NIHR SPHR Prevention Research Programme website.