Use of Mobile Health in Prenatal and Postnatal Care - A Systematic Review

Background: Pre- and post-natal care are essential to mother and child survival from pregnancy-related complications. The use of mobile technology as a health monitoring tool, and service provision tracking device to improve health, healthcare delivery, and health service outcomes, prevent disease, and manage chronic diseases has been well-documented. We conducted a systematic review to examine the use of mobile technology in promoting and educating mothers on prenatal and postnatal care, and the outcomes of these interventions.

Methods: PubMed (Medline), CINAHL Complete, and PsycINFO were searched for primary articles on mobile technology interventions for prenatal and postnatal care published from 2000 to 2016. Key search terms included mobile technology, maternal health, pregnancy, prenatal and postnatal. Abstracts and full texts were reviewed by two reviewers using pre-determined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Eleven articles that met the inclusion criteria were assessed for quality and the content was analyzed.

Results: All the 11 studies were intervention studies, four of which were randomized control trials. Four studies investigated the influence of mobile phone technologies on behaviors and attitudes among mothers during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Health outcomes attributed to mobile technology included improved breastfeeding practices, increased antenatal care attendance and coverage, and reduced perinatal mortality.

Implication/Conclusion: Mobile technology interventions are very applicable in low-income settings where distance and cost of travel restrict access to maternal and newborn services. Thus, mobile phone interventions can facilitate health services by saving time, reduce the financial burden and other social costs for women.