How tech is supporting mothers in Africa
But for those living in remote and rural areas, it can be a challenge to get the care needed, especially in critical situations.
We believe technology can help and play a key role in improving healthcare services.
One area of success has been maternal health programmes.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are only 1.3 nurses and midwives for every thousand people and it can be difficult for rural communities to get to health centres.
A KPMG study found that 98% of mothers had taken action to improve their child’s health thanks to the information they received.
Offering free information about pregnancy and childcare, the service covers mental health, child development, allergies and first aid.
For Lucrecia Maria, a mother from Mozambique, she was so pleased with her daughter’s health improvements that she encouraged other mums to use the service too.
Thousands of pregnant women in rural Africa are unable to travel to get the care they need.
Using Vodafone Foundation's m-mama programme, an affordable emergency transport service, we’re working to change this.
Connecting mothers to a network of local taxi drivers, they can get assistance and be taken to a health facility at anytime and at no cost.
For Veronica, this service helped deliver her twins safely.
When she went into labour, she headed to the local clinic where she delivered her first child. However, the second was breech which meant she needed to travel to another facility 33km away.
Currently available in Tanzania and Lesotho, we’re expanding m-mama to the most remote parts of Tanzania to bring this service to 6 million more people a month.
For Charity, having her first child at 19 was daunting, especially when living in a village in Ghana with little to no access to prenatal care.
Thanks to our partnership with Divine Mother and Child Foundation, she was able to receive a free mobile ultrasound scan at the nearby village health clinic, giving her peace of mind.
With Sub-Saharan Africa suffering some of the highest rates of maternal and child mortality, these programmes are showing how digital tools can improve patient care and support medical staff.