Impact of smartphone-assisted prenatal home visits on women's use of facility delivery: Results from a cluster-randomized trial in rural Tanzania

Abstract

Background: About half of births in rural Tanzania are assisted by skilled providers. Point-of-care mobile phone applications hold promise in boosting job support for community health workers aiming to ensure safe motherhood through increased facility delivery awareness, access and uptake. We conducted a controlled comparison to evaluate a smartphone-based application designed to assist community health workers with data collection, education delivery, gestational danger sign identification, and referrals.

Methods: Community health workers in 32 randomly selected villages were cluster-randomized to training on either smartphone (intervention) or paper-based (control) protocols for use during household visits with pregnant women. The primary outcome measure was postnatal report of delivery location by 572 women randomly selected to participate in a survey conducted by home visit. A mixed-effects model was used to account for clustering of subjects and other measured factors influencing facility delivery.

Findings: The smartphone intervention was associated with significantly higher facility delivery: 74% of mothers in intervention areas delivered at or in transit to a health facility, versus 63% in control areas. The odds of facility delivery among women counseled by smartphone-assisted health workers were double the odds among women living in control villages (OR, 1.96; CI, 1.21-3.19; adjusted analyses). Women in intervention areas were more likely to receive two or more visits from a community health worker during pregnancy than women in the control group (72% vs. 60%; chi-square = 6.9; p < 0.01). Previous facility delivery, uptake of antenatal care, and distance to the nearest facility were also strong independent predictors of facility delivery.

Interpretation: Community health worker use of smartphones increased facility delivery, likely through increased frequency of prenatal home visits. Smartphone-based job aids may enhance community health worker support and effectiveness as one component of intervention packages targeting safe motherhood.

Trial registration: NCT03161184.

Fig 1. Study design overview (attached as separate file).

Fig 2. Study flow diagram outlining sample size achieved in each study arm.

Fig 3. Facility delivery in each study group, stratified by parity, previous facility delivery, and ANC uptake.

*Significance assessed by Chi-square tests for proportions. **Significance assessed by Fisher’s exact test for proportions.