Improving women's access to healthcare is crucial in Tanzania to reduce high rates of maternal and infant mortality. A joint research team, consisting of members from Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Tanzania, the University of Tokyo Hospital, and other institutions, conducted a pilot study on a smartphone application for midwives to evaluate its effectiveness. Facilities utilizing this app observed significant improvements in the learning outcomes for midwives, as well as a substantial increase in knowledge scores related to prenatal preparation for pregnant women. These results provide valuable insights and guidance for future development and support, as well as for leveraging information and communication technology ICT in the medical field and were published in PLOS One.
Tanzania is one of the countries where the improvement of maternal and child health is lagging, with a particular challenge being the high maternal mortality rate. This situation arises from the low quality of healthcare access, limited healthcare access and a lack of skilled midwives. Various development assistance efforts have been made to address these issues; however, they have not yet led to sufficient improvement.
Meanwhile, with the recent advancement of ICT, smartphones are rapidly becoming widespread in Tanzania. Therefore, the use of smartphones for education and information dissemination is gaining attention as a new initiative in the healthcare sector.
Given these factors, it is necessary to develop and evaluate a smartphone app for midwives. The joint research team conducted a pilot study involving an app developed specifically for midwives in Tanzania. This app aims to help midwives improve their knowledge and skills, and its effectiveness was evaluated onsite for both midwives and pregnant women.
In the pilot study, the research team provided midwives with an educational app and conducted focus-group discussions to assess the app usage, the learning outcomes for midwives, and the application's usability. Furthermore, the researchers evaluated whether the midwives using the app provided appropriate information to pregnant women through a questionnaire administered to the pregnant women.
The results indicated that 87.5% of midwives continued to use the app even after 2 months. The mini quiz conducted for the midwives after app usage indicated a significant improvement in the average score. The focus-group discussions revealed that all the midwives expressed satisfaction with the app. The reasons for their satisfaction included comprehensive content, increased confidence, and improvement of mutual communication.
Furthermore, an analysis of the questionnaire administered to pregnant women (based on 207 responses) indicated improvements in women-centered care at facilities where the app was used, although the difference was not statistically significant. Regarding the scale for assessing prenatal preparation, the intervention group exhibited significant improvements in knowledge scores and the value score for home birth (indicating a higher degree of willingness to give birth in a hospital). The results of this study indicate that implementing a large-scale educational app for midwives can have a significant impact.
The research team aims to enhance and expand this app to deliver more effective education programs, contributing to the reduction of maternal and child mortality rates in developing countries, including Tanzania. Their objective is to develop the app not only for midwives but also for pregnant women and their families, with the aim of improving understanding and awareness of care throughout the pregnancy and postpartum periods.
Journal Information
Publication: PLOS One
Title: Development and pilot test of a smartphone app for midwifery care in Tanzania: A comparative cross-sectional study
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283808
This article has been translated by JST with permission from The Science News Ltd. (https://sci-news.co.jp/). Unauthorized reproduction of the article and photographs is prohibited.