Texting for life: a mobile phone application to connect pregnant women with emergency transport and obstetric care in rural Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Difficulty in transportation to access skilled providers has been cited repeatedly as a major barrier to utilization of emergency obstetric care in Nigeria. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper is to describe the design, implementation, and outcomes of a mobile phone technology aimed at rapidly reaching rural Nigerian women who experience pregnancy complications with emergency transportation and access to providers. METHOD: The project was implemented in 20 communities in two predominantly rural Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Edo State, in southern Nigeria, as part of a larger implementation project aimed at improving the access of rural women to skilled pregnancy care. The digital health innovation named Text4Life, allowed women to send a brief message from their mobile phone to a server linked to Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities and to access pre-registered transport owners. Pregnant women were registered and taught to text short messages to a server from their mobile phones or those of a friend or relative when they experience complications. RESULTS: Over 18 months, 56 women out of 1620 registered women (3.5%) texted the server requesting emergency transportation. Of this number, 51 were successfully transported to the PHC facilities, 46 were successfully treated at the PHC, and five were referred to higher-level care facilities. No maternal deaths occurred during the period, while four perinatal deaths were recorded. CONCLUSION: We conclude that a rapid short message sent from a mobile phone to a central server and connected to transport providers and health facility managers is effective in increasing the access of pregnant women to skilled emergency obstetric services in rural Nigeria.