Children
Child rights action with informed and engaged societies
Children
After nearly 28 years, The Communication Initiative (The CI) Global is entering a new chapter. Following a period of transition, the global website has been transferred to the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in South Africa, where it will be administered by the Social and Behaviour Change Communication Division. Wits' commitment to social change and justice makes it a trusted steward for The CI's legacy and future.
 
Co-founder Victoria Martin is pleased to see this work continue under Wits' leadership. Victoria knows that co-founder Warren Feek (1953–2024) would have felt deep pride in The CI Global's Africa-led direction.
 
We honour the team and partners who sustained The CI for decades. Meanwhile, La Iniciativa de Comunicación (CILA) continues independently at cila.comminitcila.com and is linked with The CI Global site.
Time to read
1 minute
Print
a- a+
Published 11 years ago
Last updated 2 years ago
Read so far

Mobile phones as a health communication tool to improve skilled attendance at delivery in Zanzibar: a cluster‐randomised controlled trial

0 comments

Lund, S., Hemed, M., Nielsen, B.B., Said, A., Said, K., Makungu, M.H., & Rasch, V. (2012). Mobile phones as a health communication tool to improve skilled attendance at delivery in Zanzibar: a cluster‐randomised controlled trial. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 119, 1256-1264.

Objective: To examine the association between a mobile phone intervention and skilled delivery attendance in a resource-limited setting.

Design: Pragmatic cluster-randomised controlled trial with primary healthcare facilities as the unit of randomisation.

Setting: Primary healthcare facilities in Zanzibar.

Population: Two thousand, five hundred and fifty pregnant women (1311 interventions and 1239 controls) who attended antenatal care at one of the selected primary healthcare facilities were included at their first antenatal care visit and followed until 42 days after delivery. All pregnant women were eligible for study participation.

Methods: Twenty-four primary healthcare facilities in six districts in Zanzibar were allocated by simple randomisation to either mobile phone intervention (n = 12) or standard care (n = 12). The intervention consisted of a short messaging service (SMS) and mobile phone voucher component.

Main outcome measures: Skilled delivery attendance.

Results: The mobile phone intervention was associated with an increase in skilled delivery attendance: 60% of the women in the intervention group versus 47% in the control group delivered with skilled attendance. The intervention produced a significant increase in skilled delivery attendance amongst urban women (odds ratio, 5.73; 95% confidence interval, 1.51–21.81), but did not reach rural women.

Conclusions: The mobile phone intervention significantly increased skilled delivery attendance amongst women of urban residence. Mobile phone solutions may contribute to the saving of lives of women and their newborns and the achievement of Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5, and should be considered by maternal and child health policy makers in developing countries.