Throughout the Global Maternal Health Conference in Arusha, Tanzania, presentations on mHealth and broader eHealth were numerous. As a person working on an eHealth initiative and concerned with knowledge management, I have to wonder how we’re ever going to coordinate and integrate all of this work not just within countries but globally. Or are the needs and lessons for eHealth too context specific?

It is important that we continue to explore new avenues for partnering and forums for sharing important lessons with each other. As part of those partnerships, ministries and government need to be in the driver’s seat for sustainability. The Bangladesh Knowledge Management Initiative (BKMI) understands this well and is working hand in hand with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to implement their eHealth initiative.

At the Global Maternal Health Conference in Tanzania, participants are presenting and buzzing about the importance of institutional delivery, and improving access to health services. But is improving access enough? What about the quality? And does it matter where women deliver as long as they are tended to by skilled birth attendants? Shouldn’t we give them the choice?

Women should have a choice, and ultimately they will go wherever they feel safe, respected, and comfortable. As I understand it, the argument for institutional delivery is that health providers are better able and equipped to manage a complication. But all of our work and resources to encourage institutional delivery could be thwarted, and women will refuse to go, if health systems, governments, and providers don’t act on providing respectful maternal health care and being able to ensure the same level of comfort they would expect at home. Maternal health programs that are creating demand in communities for facility-based deliveries should first ensure that the facility is able to handle that demand and maintain quality of services.

Bangladesh, one of the world’s most populous countries, has some of the worst maternal health indicators. One of the contributing factors to poor maternal health is the lack of life-saving information on family planning and reproductive health, maternal nutrition, safe delivery, antenatal care, and postnatal care. The government-supported community-based frontline health workers (CHWs) that provide counseling to mothers often lack accurate and up-to-date information around these topics themselves. However there are reasons to be optimistic! The government’s commitment to improving maternal health, and its goal of a Digital Bangladesh, provides a unique opportunity to explore solutions through innovative technology in communities.

The Bangladesh Knowledge Management Initiative (BKMI) is improving access to and use of essential maternal health information in Bangladesh communities through simple and cost-effective eHealth solutions. Working closely with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), BKMI has developed an easy to use eToolkit, or digital library, and eight interactive eLearning course videos for a low-literacy audience. The eToolkit contains well-organized and cross-cutting behavior change communication (BCC) health resources vetted by technical experts and CHWs, for use with community clients. The eLearning courses are designed to supplement health worker trainings. They cover these maternal health topics, and also include interpersonal communication and counseling, and integrated messaging.

K4Health is proud to announce a special supplement to the monthly K4Health Newsletter: Focus on mHealth.

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At last month’s mHealth Summit, the Global Health Track was launched, accompanying Business, Healthcare Delivery, Policy, Research, and Technology as key themes in mobile health. K4Health was part of the 16-member committee tapped to develop an agenda featuring efforts to improve health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries.

Now that the Summit is over, we want to continue the conversation about mHealth in international development. K4Health brings together leaders in mHealth via the mHealth Working Group and has aggregated the latest mHealth knowledge on the mHealth Toolkit. Now we want to share that knowledge with you.