Challenges

Bangladesh has significantly reduced maternal and child mortality over the past two decades, achieving a 63% decrease in child mortality rates. Despite this progress, the country continues to face challenges in enhancing the quality and accessibility of maternal and child healthcare services. Notably, even with increased antenatal care coverage, only 16% of women have access to comprehensive antenatal care, defined as at least four visits (ANC4+) services.

Toward a Solution

To promote safer pregnancies and empower women in managing their health, a comprehensive Pregnancy Monitoring System is being piloted. Spearheaded by Bangladesh’s Aspire to Innovate (a2i) and implemented in collaboration with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the Directorate General of Family Planning (DGFP), and the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), this initiative aims to achieve SDG targets 3.1 and 3.2, specifically targeting a global maternal mortality ratio below 70 per 100,000 live births.

The innovative approach includes two key components:

1. Interactive Systems for Healthcare Services: This component aims to create a holistic digital health ecosystem offering personalized care to pregnant women, emphasizing maternity and neonatal care’s importance. Community health workers will identify pregnant women, who will then receive services through mobile applications or IoT-based devices, depending on their technology access. Services include reminders for antenatal and postnatal care appointments, healthy pregnancy practices, and the importance of delivering in healthcare facilities. This system will also enhance self-management and improve maternal and newborn health care knowledge and practices. Additionally, it will streamline data collection on maternal and newborn health by transmitting health parameters (such as sleep, movement, temperature, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation) from devices to servers, incorporating AI to identify high-risk pregnancies.

2. Monitoring and Emergency Support Systems: This involves interactive systems (phone-based, internet-based, IVR, chatbot, wearable devices, etc.) to provide emergency support and act as a lifestyle guide platform. It will offer authentic healthcare information, reliable suggestions, and relevant services to pregnant women as needed.

Key strategies for the sustainability and replicability of this solution focus on adaptability, localization, collaboration with local stakeholders, capacity building, infrastructure considerations, financial sustainability, user education, community engagement, data security, privacy, pilot programs, monitoring, evaluation, advocacy, and policy support. The initiative emphasizes adaptability to different cultural, social, and economic contexts, collaboration with local governments, health ministries, NGOs, and healthcare providers, and the importance of training for healthcare professionals and community health workers. Financial sustainability, prioritizing user education and community engagement, and implementing robust data security measures are also crucial components of this comprehensive approach.