August 6th 2012 is a date I will never forget– the date that my first nephew was born. I was overwhelmed when my mum called me to tell me the news! Tears and laughter at the same time!
According to my sister, everything went smoothly apart from the unbearable pain but that was forgettable as soon as she heard her Little Prince cry!
However, travel south from Slovenia where my nephew was born – all the way from Europe and to Africa, where the situation is completely different.
According to Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development[1], every two minutes a woman dies in childbirth. Women in sub-Saharan Africa are 136 times more likely to die during childbirth than in developed countries. As well, there’s a high-risk period for both the mother and baby present at least for another 48 hours after birth, during which 150,000 maternal deaths, 1.6 million neonatal deaths, and 1.2 million stillbirths occur each year.
Almost all of these deaths happen in low- and middle-income countries, where access to quality care is very poor. Add a lack of electricity, clean water, transportation and health workers, as well as possible cultural and traditional beliefs which prevent women from seeking health professionals and one will have clearer picture why the situation is so frightening.
Can the world do something about it? Personally I believe mHealth can make a difference! mHealth can bring health to the rural areas, not only by educating pregnant women, but also by educating volunteers, community health workers, frontline workers and other so called ‘agents’ on how to help. mHealth has the potential of so much more than just raising awareness and health worker empowerment. It also enables health monitoring, payments, savings, etc.
Today there are over 70 mHealth services around the world targeting pregnant women and mothers [2]. Some of the most mentioned services include Baby Monitor, text4baby, and MAMA [3].
Although there is a need and there are various mHealth maternal-focused solutions, fragmentation is very evident. Everybody is talking about the mHealth ecosystem and its importance, nevertheless we still see way too many small pilots. With this in mind, I would like to make a call for action to all the stakeholders in mHealth ecosystem to connect and start thinking big from the very beginning.
We know there is a need, we know that mobile is the way to reach people even in the most remote areas – now let’s work together toward the business model that will be sustainable for everyone.
Nothing is nicer than knowing that your sister is in safe hands and that your Little Prince is taken care of!
Photo Credit: UN Photo/Martine Perret
[1] USAID, the Government of Norway, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada, and DFID have joined together to launch Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, to find the tools and approaches to help mothers and newborns during their most vulnerable hours.
[2] To have a look at how dispersed services are around the globe, have a look at the GSMA report written in May 2012, Using mHealth to Support Universal Health Access.
[3] If you are interested in mHealth services please have a look at mHealth Tracker on: http://www.mobilehealthlive.org/mhealth-tracker/. To submit a product or service and to provide any feedback, please email mobilehealth@gsm.org