Introduction to the Maternal and Newborn mHealth Initiative

jennifer.potts

Although there are proven, cost-effective interventions that can prevent maternal and newborn mortalities, mothers and newborns are still dying at alarming rates worldwide. According to the WHO, there were 358,000 maternal deaths in 2008, but the magnitude of the problem is even greater: each year, there are more than 3.3 million stillbirths, 4 million early neonatal deaths, and 529,000 pregnancy-related deaths. These numbers are not only lives lost, but also a violation of a woman’s right to life. Societies are failing to provide appropriate health care to women, and health systems are failing their patients.

Decreasing rates of maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity depends on the functionality of the entire health system. While it is difficult to predict which women will have complications during pregnancy and childbirth, most complications can be successfully treated. The key is access to Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care within a properly functioning health system. Properly implemented maternal health programs, including referrals for emergency care, positively affect the ability of the health system to handle all types of medical emergencies.

There are six main building blocks of a health system that include: Leadership and Governance, Information, Health Workforce, Service Delivery, Financing, and Medical Products, Vaccines and Technologies. From creating more accurate channels of information sharing through data collection methods, providing affordable and convenient mobile money options for greater access to health care, to identifying counterfeit drugs, each building block provides dynamic opportunities for mobiles to improve health systems functions. As a consequence, maternal-newborn health outcomes can also improve. Below is a graphic illustration of examples of mHealth programs and policies that intersect at each building block.

In addition, the interaction between these building blocks is equally important for health systems transformation. ICTs and other mobile services, such as mFinance and mEducation, can provide viable pathways for each facet of the health system to work in concordance with the others, promoting a cohesive and interoperable system. For example, an electronic health information system can inform the medical supply chain of what resources are required and where. Mobiles can efficiently and accurately relay this information so that critical time is saved, and thus, lives are saved.

By focusing on maternal-newborn health as a lens to the application of ICTs to health systems, the mHealth Alliance is working toward health systems transformation to improve health outcomes for all populations.

Join the Maternal-newborn mHealth Initiative to participate in the discussion and see what projects are being done right now. In addition, to read more about Maternal-newborn mortality and mHealth, please click here.