One of the main difficulties in maternal-infant healthcare is the scarcity of specialized, trained, equipped professionals in rural communities, which unsurprisingly have higher mortality rates. In Afghanistan, for example, there are between one and two midwives for every 15 thousand adult women.
Midwives Connect is an m-Health application that uses interactive response technology to assist professionals who treat pregnant women and newborn babies in rural areas.
As the developers explained, the app’s design was based on the results of maternal health projects carried out in Afghanistan. However, the language and content can be easily adapted to countries and contexts facing similar healthcare challenges.
How does it work?
Every day, the application contacts doctors via .mobile telephones to confirm the key information about workflow. It informs them of the treatment location, the number of patients attended and births that have occurred, requests for diagnosis and consults between other experts. In addition it records the number of maternal and/or child deaths and their presumed causes.
In addition, through the app, the supervising personnel at clinics and hospitals of each district can revise information added by professionals in real time.
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