There are many barriers for mothers in rural and developing areas to travel far distances for antenatal, delivery, and postnatal care at health clinics. As a consequence, these types of services are often neglected, putting the mother and child at higher risk for complications during delivery, often resulting in preventable adverse health outcomes for mothers and their newborns.

Detailed description of the solution

Baby Monitor is an interactive voice response mobile application that. It allows an efficient clinical assessment and method of healthcare delivery for mothers and their infants in resource-poor settings without depending upon experienced healthcare workers. What is unique about this mobile app is that it focuses on reaching women and their children directly, making patients the end-users, instead of community health workers. The system, operated through a key press, can automatically initiate several processes, including sending health information to mothers when everything is okay, making referrals to clinics, or sending community health workers to intervene when required. The system also creates medical records and conducts follow-ups to ensure that patients received the care they needed.

Designed by

• Designed by: This product was designed by Population Council, an international, nongovernmental and nonprofit organization based in New York, New York. The Population Council partnered with InSTEDD, a developer of open-source software tools.

When and where it was tested/implemented

Phase I and II of the prevention trials will be conducted in western Kenya.

Funding Source

This device was funded by the Saving Lives at Birth Grand Challenge.

References