Effects of a mHealth voice messaging intervention on antenatal care utilisation at primary care level in Lagos, Nigeria: a cluster randomised trial

Gbemisola E Osanyin; Aduragbemi Bankethomas; Esther O Oluwole; Adesumbo K Odeseye; Bosede B Afolabi

doi:10.4081/jphia.2022.2222

Effects of a mHealth voice messaging intervention on antenatal care utilisation at primary care level in Lagos, Nigeria: a cluster randomised trial

J Public Health Afr. 2022 Sep 12;13(3):2222. doi: 10.4081/jphia.2022.2222. eCollection 2022 Sep 7.

Authors

Gbemisola E Osanyin¹, Aduragbemi Bankethomas^{2

3}, Esther O Oluwole⁴, Adesumbo K Odeseye⁵, Bosede B Afolabi^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
² Maternal and Reproductive Health Collective, Lagos, Nigeria.
³ School of Human Sciences, University of Greenwich, London, United Kingdom.
⁴ Department of Community Health and Primary Care, College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Nigeria.
⁵ Kensington Adebukunola Adebutu Foundation (KAAF) Maternity Centre, University of Lagos, Nigeria.

Abstract

Background: Nigeria has one of the lowest antenatal care (ANC) utilization rates compared to other low- and middle-income nations. In order to ensure a positive pregnant experience, the World Health Organization recommends at least eight ANC visits during pregnancy. This study intends to examine the impact of a mobile phone-based voice message intervention on ANC use in Lagos, Nigeria.

Methods: In this cluster-randomized experiment, primary healthcare centres were divided into five intervention and five control groups using multistage simple random sampling. The intervention consisted of a weekly voice message transmitted through mobile phone from the time of recruitment in the first trimester until two weeks postpartum. Attending at least eight ANC visits before birth was the primary outcome. STATA v17.0 was used to conduct descriptive and bivariate analyses as well as multivariate linear models to calculate crude risk ratios.

Results: 458 women participated. All intervention group women (269 women, or 58.7% of the sample) received the text message. These ladies were mostly married, Christian, had several children, and had completed high school. Women who received the intervention were more likely to attend eight ANC visits.

Conclusion: A voice message-based intervention can boost ANC utilization, according to the conclusion. This contributes to the existing body of information about the influence of mHealth treatments on maternal health outcomes and serves as a useful tool for ensuring that no woman is left behind.

Keywords: Antenatal care; Nigeria; mhealth; primary health care; utilisation.

Grants and funding

Funding. This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health’s Fogarty International Center under Award Number D43TW010134. The material is the unique responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the National Institutes of Health’s official position. The funders played no part in the study’s design, data collection and analysis, publication decision, or manuscript writing.