In Uganda, 360 out of every 100,000 mothers die of often preventable pregnancy conditions. To help save their lives, maternal and child health MPH student Sonja Ausen-Anifrani is working with an interdisciplinary team to develop “SMS Maama” — a mobile phone-based educational service that provides expectant mothers with pregnancy and postpartum information via text messages. The idea for the project was originally developed as part of an Acara Institute course in Spring 2015.
“We send out weekly informational text messages that are relevant to the woman’s pregnancy gestational age and include information on things like nutrition, HIV status, hygiene, postpartum tips, labor and delivery, and development of the fetus,” says Ausen-Anifrani.
The system also takes things a step farther by routinely sending users interactive messages that probe for symptoms that may be indicative of serious complications like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes. If users respond to the text, they get a small monetary incentive is sent to their mobile banking account, but what’s more, the network also alerts their midwives if they indicate symptoms of a potentially serious health complication.