Maternal health is a matter of great concern the world over. Proper pipelines and strategies on how to have adequate resources and methods to help mothers and their young ones in their health journey are key. Therefore, Africa’s Talking Women in Tech August Hackathon was themed Maternal Health. The day was packed with excited ladies and attendees from all around Nairobi and beyond, ready to build solutions on the same.

On that day, we pleasantly hosted Jacaranda Health, one of Africa’s Talking clients, to make a presentation. Jacaranda Health partners with government health systems to deliver affordable, tech-enabled solutions that improve the quality of care for mums and babies. Hence, they gave a great demonstration on maternal health, giving the attendees a great perspective on what is expected in the solutions.

You can read more about their solution on our blog here:

Jacaranda Health: PROMPTS — Promoting Mothers During Pregnancy & Postpartum Through SMSCreating a world where all mothers experience childbirth safely and with respect, and all newborns get a safe start in…blog.africastalking.com

Soon after their presentation, there was a technical demonstration of the APIs offered by Africa’s Talking. The hackathon soon began and as a result, the following 13 solutions came about that were brilliantly executed:

1. Mama Care

• APIs: USSD, SMS

• This solution offers interfaces for mothers to follow along and get prenatal advice. Features include the ability to download a PDF, where the mother can input and follow along their pregnancy timeline. The USSD gives the mothers tips based on their pregnancy month at that time and enables sending a message with those tips when selected in the USSD options.

2. Mama Care (Similar name? You bet! Great minds DO think alike. )

• API: Voice

• This solution mainly targeted the visually impaired expectant mothers. It works by using voice prompts to get responses from the mothers. A Web App was used to login mothers to monitor clinic updates via a calendar, as well as enable them to ask questions via QnA. The solution also enabled giving feedback on the clinic visit, and the mother’s emergency contacts can be displayed.

3. emPOWERher

• APIs: USSD, SMS

• This solution was created to cater for a niche audience, Teen moms. The website offers information on education on pregnancy, hospitals nearby, shelters nearby, adoption agencies, counselling services, a chatbot to chat with, and sex education and family planning education. On the same website, there are stories shared by other teen moms to encourage others, and a helpline to receive messages on subscription. The USSD option is for those who cannot access the website for the information, to receive the same information in text form.

4. Daktari Wangu

• API: SMS

• This is a solution in the form of a web application for online booking services for hospital appointments. Mothers fill in a form via SMS with the appointment date and time details, then fill in payment details for successful payments. Another SMS prompt was sent on a successful booking.

5. Mama Nafuu

• API: SMS

• This solution is a web application that gives reminders to expectant mothers for nutrition, medication, booking appointments, and an avenue to contact the medical or support team. SMS are sent to users who are on the messaging list for the reminders.

6. Mummy Care

• APIs: USSD, SMS

• This USSD solution aims to connect mothers to information on pregnancy and motherhood during their pregnancy period. Mothers can receive advice via SMS text after selecting that option in their USSD session.

7. Uzazi Guide

• API: USSD

• This solution aims to offer expectant mothers a guide for health targets and personal care during their expectancy journey via the website. Using USSD, this solution enables the mothers to access options such as requesting a midwife dispatched after dialling a code or getting help in the event of pregnancy complications.

8. Fistula Care

• API: USSD

• This solution offers a website to educate and help mothers with regards to fistulas which is an emerging issue for upcoming and new moms. The website shares resources on fistulas, enables booking an appointment, option to donate to mothers suffering from fistulas. The USSD solution for 2G is vital for offering information on fistulas even when offline.

9. Salum

• APIs: USSD, SMS

• This is a key solution targeting mothers on the streets, who go through maternal health challenges of their own. The USSD solution enables mothers to select an option and receive an SMS on symptoms and information on the pregnancy cycle via text.

10. USSD App

• API: USSD

• In this solution, an expectant mother uses a USSD interface to input their details to get assistance in their pregnancy journey. The details include: Name, location.

11. MaternaCare

• API: OpenAI: ChatGPT API

• This solution uses a website to provide maternal health information. A mother creates an account and signs in. A chatbot is provided on the home page to ask questions on maternal health via ChatGPT. Mothers use an online form to fill in hospital details; the online booklet is stored in the database. Appointments are made via the home page, and there are care options for anti-natal, delivery and post-natal care.

12. Postnatal Pals

• API: USSD

• This solution uses USSD to offer centralised information on pregnancy in general to mothers, such as breastfeeding tips and challenges, tips for babies needing extra care, recovery tips for mothers and sexual health, among others.

13. Mobile App

• API: SMS to be implemented later

• This solution covers the product design for a mobile application that offers a platform for mothers to communicate and get information and share it with other mothers. The interfaces were well built with seamless movement between the chat section and the knowledge sharing platform of the application.

At the end of the day, the attendees had discussed and tackled various challenges in the Maternal Health field, with most of the solutions ready to be scaled and deployed to the market for use by expecting and new mothers and their children to ensure their healthcare is in the best state possible.

By joining Africa’s Talking Women in Tech Community, you get to be updated and in the know with all our events happening, and easily participate in the hackathons every last Wednesday of the month. See you in the next!