Introduction and roll-out of self-learning App for midwifery during the COVID-19 pandemic and its sustainability in Cambodia

Abstract

Similar to other countries, coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic significantly impacted not only the ability of midwives to deliver high quality maternal care, but also their ability to access professional development opportunities, including in-service training in Cambodia. In response, we developed a Cambodian version of Safe Delivery App (SDA), aligned to Cambodia's clinical guidelines. The SDA is a free digital job aid and learning platform for skilled birth attendants developed by Maternity Foundation that works offline and is used in more than 40 countries after adapting to the country context. In the year and a half since its launch in June 2021, SDA has become established in Cambodia, with more than 3,000 people, accounting for nearly half the number of midwives in Cambodia, downloading and using it on their devices, and 285 people having completed its self-learning modules. The review of the introduction process revealed that publicity on the professional association's social networking sites, in-person in-depth hands-on training, and troubleshooting in a managed social networking group were useful in promoting the use of the application, and that the Continuing Professional Development Program accreditation has been a strong motivator for completing the self-study program. On the other hand, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased use of digital tools, but it is important to prevent the expansion of the digital divide when implementing new digital tools, including SDA.