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Texting for life: a mobile phone application to connect pregnant women with emergency transport and obstetric care in rural Nigeria.
- Source :
-
BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth . 3/8/2023, p1-8. 8p. - Publication Year :
- 2023
-
Abstract
- Background: Difficulty in transportation to access skilled providers has been cited repeatedly as a major barrier to utilization of emergency obstetric care in Nigeria. Objective: The objective of this paper is to describe the design, implementation, and outcomes of a mobile phone technology aimed at rapidly reaching rural Nigerian women who experience pregnancy complications with emergency transportation and access to providers. Method: The project was implemented in 20 communities in two predominantly rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State, in southern Nigeria, as part of a larger implementation project aimed at improving the access of rural women to skilled pregnancy care. The digital health innovation named Text4Life, allowed women to send a brief message from their mobile phone to a server linked to Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities and to access pre-registered transport owners. Pregnant women were registered and taught to text short messages to a server from their mobile phones or those of a friend or relative when they experience complications. Results: Over 18 months, 56 women out of 1620 registered women (3.5%) texted the server requesting emergency transportation. Of this number, 51 were successfully transported to the PHC facilities, 46 were successfully treated at the PHC, and five were referred to higher-level care facilities. No maternal deaths occurred during the period, while four perinatal deaths were recorded. Conclusion: We conclude that a rapid short message sent from a mobile phone to a central server and connected to transport providers and health facility managers is effective in increasing the access of pregnant women to skilled emergency obstetric services in rural Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *CELL phones
*PREGNANT women
*OBSTETRICAL emergencies
*MOBILE apps
*TEXT messages
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 14712393
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- BMC Pregnancy & Childbirth
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 162258340
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-05424-9