Improvement of maternal health services through the use of mobile phones
Abstract
Summary: Objective To analyse, on the basis of the literature, the potential of mobile phones to improve maternal health services in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC). Methods Wide search for scientific and grey literature using various terms linked to: maternal health, mobile telecommunication and LMIC. Applications requiring an internet connection were excluded as this is not widely available in LMIC yet. Results Few projects exist in this field and little evidence is available as yet on the impact of mobile phones on the quality of maternal health services. Projects focus mainly on the delay in receiving care – that is in recognizing the need and making the decision to seek care – and the delay in arriving at the health facility. This is achieved by connecting lesser trained health workers to specialists and coordination of referrals. Ongoing projects focus on empowering women to seek health care. Discussion There is broad agreement that access to communication is one of several essential components to improve maternal health services and hence the use of mobile phones has much potential. However, there is a need for robust evidence on constraints and impacts, especially when financial and human resources will be invested. Concurrently, other ways in which mobile phones can be used to benefit maternal health services need to be further explored, taking into consideration privacy and confidentiality.
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mHealth holds great potential for improving the use and quality of maternal health services, provided that women are not restricted due to their position in society, lack of finance or means of transport.
“The expected limitations of participants are also consistent with a review of literature which suggests that mHealth holds great potential for improving the use and quality of maternal health services, provided that women are not restricted due to their position in society, lack of finance or means of transport [25].”
From Situating mobile health: a qualitative study of mHealth expectations in the rural health district of Nouna, Burkina Faso (2017) · cites this paper as [25]
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- Authors
- Noordam, A. C., Kuepper, B. M., Stekelenburg, J., & Milen, A.
- Affiliations
- Royal Tropical Institute (NL)
- Medisch Centrum Leeuwarden (NL)
- Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (FI)
- Corresponding author
- Noordam, A. Camielle
- ORCID
- Stekelenburg, Jelle
- Venue
- Tropical Medicine & International Health
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2011-02-22
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 622-626
- ISSN
- 1360-2276 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-3156
- OpenAlex
- W1194700196
- Cited by
- 174
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 15 · 2020: 21 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 10 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 1.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Tropical Medicine & International Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- STM:n Hallinnonalan avoin julkaisuarkisto (Julkari) (submittedVersion)
- University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion)
- WOS
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Mobile Health and mHealth Applications
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › ICT in Developing Communities
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Global Maternal and Child Health
- Keywords
- mobile devices, obstetric care, low- and middle-income countries, health communication, delayed care seeking, referral coordination, health professions education, women's empowerment, health care access, privacy and confidentiality
- MeSH terms
- Developing Countries, Female, Health Services Accessibility, Humans, Maternal Health Services, Patient Acceptance of Health Care, Pregnancy, Prejudice, Remote Consultation, Cell Phone
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