Mobile phones save mothers and babies during birth

“I felt something was wrong with my labour and I called the midwife, who told me to come to the health centre urgently. The midwife tried to help me and even called the hospital to ask for advice. Then she called again and the hospital sent an ambulance for me. I had an operation and my child survived.”

During a recent informal chat with women from my village on safe motherhood, Taifa’s experience was one of the success stories that were told. What had saved her baby’s life was a mobile phone. Taifa was one of the 100 pregnant women that had registered their mobile phones with the local health clinic upon their first antenatal visit. Since then, they had received a number of benefits, such as helpful text messages on their mobile phones about what kinds of foods to eat, how to prepare for the arrival of their babies and reminders on when to attend the next antenatal check-up. They were also given a nurse’s cell phone number in case of any questions or emergencies - a lifesaving number, as it turned out for Taifa.

While for millions of people it is still difficult to access primary healthcare services, a staggering 90 per cent of the world’s population has access to mobile phone networks.

In all the world, the African mobile phone market has the highest growth rate. The exponential increase in mobile phone use on the continent has inspired a new industry of health-related electronic applications and programmes for mobile phones, ranging from tools for data collection, public health education and communication, to specialised diagnostic tools.

Mobile health, known as MHealth, is the term for describing the use of these telecommunication technologies and their use in medical and public health practices.

MHealth is happening quickly. It is happening in Africa and it is happening in those hard-to-reach areas where most people live but where access to health services is difficult.