Harnessing the Power of Mobile Phone Technology to Improve Maternal Healthcare in Tanzania: Proposed Model

Abstract

In the effort to reduce maternal mortality rate, Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 was declared globally. Tanzania has no exception on this. Maternal mortality and morbidity is still an enduring challenge in Tanzania. In 2010 the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) was recorded at 454/100,000 live births. Despite of the devoted efforts and significant progress that Tanzania has made in reducing MMR, still the situation demands for more improved intervention. One among the contributors of maternal mortality is lack of education to expectant mothers. In this paper, a model with a pivotal role to extend health information accessibility to expectant mothers is proposed. A proposed model is exploiting the potential and power of mobile phones to deliver its services. Existing extended network coverage and expansion of mobile phone usage are the unprecedented advantages that would also be exploited.