Description of Session
Every two minutes at least one woman dies from complications experienced during pregnancy or childbirth, and 20 families experience a stillbirth or the death of a newborn child. Most of these deaths occur in the 24 hours around delivery, and most are preventable.Poor quality of facility-based care is a major contributing factor to elevated rates of morbidity and mortality among mothers and newborns, and effective strategies for ending preventable deaths must focus on quality of care in the intrapartum and immediate postpartum periods. Specifically, while the partograph (a paper-based labor management tool recommended by the World Health Organization) has demonstrated success in preventing prolonged and obstructed labor, insufficient training and support have resulted in low uptake and incorrect use of the tool for real-time monitoring during labor. In response to these challenges, Dimagi developed mLabour. mLabour is an easy-to-use digital tool that helps skilled birth attendants deliver evidence-based intrapartum care. mLabour promotes timely and appropriate labor monitoring, careful screening and alerts for life-threatening risks, and application of global standards of care. mLabour includes all the assessments contained in the paper partograph, but it provides added benefits of automated visualizations and alerts, exam reminders, and real-time decision support. In remote facilities, where midwives generally work alone or with few peers for support, the tool provides decision-making confidence. At high-volume facilities, it can enable health care workers to prioritize patients according to need, improving efficiency and safety. During Appy Hour, Dimagi will showcase mLabour and the key features of the tool that enable improved quality and efficiency in labor wards. We will also share with participants high-level results of studies conducted in India and Tanzania.
