PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Team develops smartphone app to enhance midwifery care in Tanzania

App leads to better birth preparation for pregnant women

Team develops smartphone app to enhance midwifery care in Tanzania
2023-06-06
(Press-News.org) An international research team from Tanzania and Japan created a smartphone app and conducted a pilot study of how the app might be used to improve midwives’ knowledge and skills in Tanzania. Their study focused on the app’s potential effects on the learning outcomes of midwives and birth preparedness of pregnant women in Tanzania.

The team’s work is published in the journal PLOS ONE on March 31, 2023.

“The smartphone app for midwives showed significant improvements in their learning outcomes, leading to better birth preparations for pregnant women in Tanzania. This study highlights the potential of leveraging technology to enhance midwife education, ultimately contributing to maternal health and addressing high maternal and child mortality rates,” said Yoko Shimpuku, a professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University.

Pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa have low access to healthcare. In Tanzania, only 51% of pregnant women have four or more antenatal care visits, while the World Health Organization recommends at least eight visits during pregnancy. Because of Tanzania’s high maternal mortality ratio, it is crucial to increase women’s access to healthcare. To improve women’s access, the quality of antenatal care needs to be improved.

The team used a mixed-methods study to provide an educational app for midwives in the intervention group. They obtained data about the continuous use of the app and measured midwives’ learning outcomes. Their next step was to conduct focus group discussions on the usability of the app and surveys among pregnant women about birth preparedness in the intervention and control groups to evaluate if the midwives had provided them with proper information. The control group of pregnant women received regular antenatal care and answered the same survey.

The study included 23 midwives who took part in the testing and provided learning outcome data. Their results showed that 87.5% of the midwives continued to study with the app two months post-intervention. There were 207 pregnant women included in the study. The intervention group of pregnant women had significantly higher knowledge scores and home-based value scores than did the women in the control group, where the app was not used. This home-based value score indicates that the higher the score, the more women tended to prefer giving birth at a health facility instead of at home.

From conducting earlier studies, the research team knew that there is extensive smartphone use in Tanzania, especially among the population of younger people. The app the team developed provided updated information on World Health Organization guidelines and practical suggestions for midwives to use for health education at antenatal care visits. They conducted the study in two health facilities in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in Tanzania, between October 2019 and March 2021.

The midwives using the app received training on how to use it. They were also reimbursed for the cost of the mobile data they used with the app, so that the cost would not hinder them from using the app. The app used an online education platform called Goocus. The information on the app included World Health Organization recommendations on antenatal and intrapartum care for pregnant women. The team also created content with locally adapted illustrations explaining why preventative behaviors or early treatment were important and showing midwives how to demonstrate these concepts in their antenatal care. The videos on the app were narrated in Kiswahili, a language most local women understood better than English.

Looking ahead, the team’s next step is to refine and expand the app for larger-scale implementation, focused on reducing maternal and child mortality rates in developing countries, starting with Tanzania. “The ultimate goal is to develop additional apps targeting pregnant women and their families, while accumulating robust evidence on the app's long-term effects and effectiveness through further research. This aims to enhance overall understanding and awareness of care from pregnancy to postpartum, ultimately improving maternal health,” said Shimpuku.

##

The research team includes Yoko Shimpuku and Naoki Hirose from Hiroshima University, Japan; Beatrice Mwilike and Dorkasi Mwakawanga from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania; Keiko Ito from Kyoto University Hospital, Japan; and Kazumi Kubota from The University of Tokyo Hospital, Japan.

The research is funded by Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Kyoto University, and Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development.

About Hiroshima University

Since its foundation in 1949, Hiroshima University has striven to become one of the most prominent and comprehensive universities in Japan for the promotion and development of scholarship and education. Consisting of 12 schools for undergraduate level and 5 graduate schools, ranging from natural sciences to humanities and social sciences, the university has grown into one of the most distinguished comprehensive research universities in Japan. English website: https://www.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/en

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:
Team develops smartphone app to enhance midwifery care in Tanzania Team develops smartphone app to enhance midwifery care in Tanzania 2

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Webb telescope detects universe’s most distant organic molecules

Webb telescope detects universe’s most distant organic molecules
2023-06-06
An international team of astronomers has detected complex organic molecules in the most distant galaxy to date using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope. The discovery of the molecules, which are familiar on Earth in smoke, soot and smog, demonstrates the power of Webb to help understand the complex chemistry that goes hand-in-hand with the birth of new stars even in the earliest periods of the universe’s history. At least for galaxies, the new findings cast doubt on the old adage that where there’s smoke, there’s ...

Breastfeeding for longer may be linked to better exam results in later life

2023-06-06
Children who are breastfed for longer appear to be more likely to gain slightly better results in their school GSCEs at age 16 compared with non-breastfed children, suggests a study published online in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood. The evidence of improved educational outcomes is still apparent even when various factors are taken into account such as people’s socio-economic status and their parents’ intelligence. Previous studies have suggested that children breastfed for longer have improved educational outcomes later in life. However these are relatively scarce, and ...

Close contact intervention between a mother and her premature baby may reduce risk of mortality by almost a third

2023-06-06
A method of care involving skin-to-skin contact between a mother and her prematurely born or low birth weight baby appears to impact the child’s chances of survival significantly, suggests a study published online in the journal BMJ Global Health. Starting the intervention within 24 hours of birth and carrying it out for at least eight hours a day both appear to make the approach even more effective in reducing mortality and infection, researchers found. The method of care known as ‘Kangaroo mother care’ (KMC) involves an infant being carried, usually by the mother, in a sling with skin-to-skin contact ...

Defibrillators used in just 10 per cent of out of hospital cardiac arrests - study shows

2023-06-06
Defibrillators are being used in just one in ten cardiac arrests where the lifesaving devices are available, according to new research presented at the British Cardiovascular Society Conference in Manchester.   The research drew upon data from the East of England Ambulance Service and The Circuit, the national defibrillator network developed by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The Circuit maps the location of defibrillators across the whole of the UK, so that emergency services can direct bystanders to the nearest defibrillator in the event of ...

Virtual blood vessel technology could improve heart disease care

2023-06-06
Patients with heart disease could benefit from less extensive interventions thanks to cutting-edge technology that creates 3D computer models of blood flow through the heart's arteries, according to research presented at the British Cardiovascular Society in Manchester. When the research team trialled the VIRTUHeartTM technology with doctors treating heart attack patients, they found that using it would have changed the treatment of more than 20 per cent of patients. In many cases, it would have led to fewer patients undergoing an invasive procedure such ...

The ISSCR releases global standards to enhance rigor and reproducibility of stem cell research

The ISSCR releases global standards to enhance rigor and reproducibility of stem cell research
2023-06-06
 The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) today released the ISSCR Standards for Human Stem Cell Use in Research, an international collaboration aimed at enhancing rigor in preclinical research and ultimately strengthening the pipeline of therapies for patients. “This nearly two-year initiative is groundbreaking for the global stem cell research community,” said Haifan Lin, ISSCR president. “The international standards will make a big difference in the quality of science that is performed and published worldwide.” The ISSCR is the preeminent international stem cell research society with a reputation ...

Childhood maltreatment predicts adult emotional difficulties

2023-06-06
Have you ever wanted to convey a feeling but just couldn’t find the right words? Millions of people struggle with a personality trait known as alexithymia, which means “no words for feelings.” Individuals with alexithymia have difficulty identifying and describing their emotions. This trait can harm their social and intimate relationships. They are likely to miss social cues and thus fail to recognize or understand the feelings of others. Past research has suggested that a history of child maltreatment could play a role in developing adult alexithymia. A new meta-analysis published this month in Psychological Bulletin, led by Stanford ...

New analysis shows COVID variant and severity of illness influence cardiac dysfunction, a key indicator of long COVID

New analysis shows COVID variant and severity of illness influence cardiac dysfunction, a key indicator of long COVID
2023-06-06
Patients infected with beta and delta COVID-19 variants, and those who required hospital stays for COVID-19 infection, were more likely to experience heart issues associated with long COVID, according to a recent Houston Methodist study published in the European Heart Journal – Cardiovascular Imaging. Patients recovering from the omicron variant were least likely to have microvascular involvement. “This new data expands our understanding of myocardial flow reserve as an important prognostic marker in general and specifically in COVID-19,” said Mouaz Al-Mallah, M.D., corresponding author of the study and director of cardiovascular ...

Renowned sociologist and Black Voices Quintet set to dazzle at HDR UK’s Black Internship Programme Opening Ceremony 2023

Renowned sociologist and Black Voices Quintet set to dazzle at HDR UK’s Black Internship Programme Opening Ceremony 2023
2023-06-05
Contact: Clare Leahy clare.leahy@hdruk.ac.uk 07748016062 Event registration for press: https://bit.ly/45rIQBr Health Data Research UK (HDR UK) is launching its Health Data Science Black Internship Programme for the third year running at its Opening Ceremony on Wednesday 21 June from 12-5pm at the Curzon Building in Birmingham City University. The programme, run in partnership with the UK Health Data Research Alliance and 10,000 Black Interns is helping to tackle the underrepresentation of Black people within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics ...

Sleep societies announce 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award recipient

Sleep societies announce 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award recipient
2023-06-05
DARIEN, IL – Sleep researcher Dayna A. Johnson is the recipient of the 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Leadership Award from the Associated Professional Sleep Societies, a joint initiative of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to sleep medicine or sleep and circadian science through their work to increase the diversity, equity, and inclusion of sleep medicine providers, or to develop educational programs, research, or clinical work aimed at reducing disparities. The award presentation occurred Monday, June 5, during the plenary session of the ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

A KAIST-Seoul National University Hospital research team develops a computational workflow that predicts metabolites and metabolic pathways associated with somatic mutations in cancers

Bendable energy storage materials by cool science

Inorganic nitrate can help protect patients against kidney damage caused during coronary angiographic procedures

Active social lives help dementia patients, caregivers thrive

New technique measures psilocybin potency of mushrooms

UC Irvine-led research team discovers role of key enzymes that drive cancer mutations

All creatures great and small: Sequencing the blue whale and Etruscan shrew genomes

Sustainable solution for wastewater polluted by dyes used in many industries

Food companies’ sponsorship of children’s sports encourages children to buy their products, Canadian research suggests

USC receives $3.95 million CIRM grant for organoid resource center

New research finds boreal arctic wetlands are producing more methane over time

TLI Investigator Dr. Wei Yan named Editor-in-Chief of the Andrology Journal

New study reveals insights into COVID-19 antibody response durability

Climate change alters the hidden microbial food web in peatlands

Text nudges can increase uptake of COVID-19 boosters– if they play up a sense of ownership of the vaccine

A new study shows how neurochemicals affect fMRI readings

Digital reminders for flu vaccination improves turnout, but not clinical outcomes in older adults

Avatar will not lie... or will it? Scientists investigate how often we change our minds in virtual environments

8-hour time-restricted eating linked to a 91% higher risk of cardiovascular death

Alternative tidal wetlands in plain sight overlooked Blue Carbon superstars

The majority of Americans do not support anti-democratic behavior, even when elected officials do

Genes identified that allow bacteria to thrive despite toxic heavy metal in soil

Scientists’ discovery could reduce dependence on animals for vital anti-blood clot drug

Artificial streams reveal how drought shapes California’s alpine ecosystems

Not in my backyard? Wind turbines have little effect on US property values

The costs of a changing landscape

UMD researchers develop genomic method of monitoring for pesticide resistance

Backyard insect inspires invisibility devices, next gen tech

Americans support democratic norms, elected officials don't

Harnessing hydrogen at life’s origin

[Press-News.org] Team develops smartphone app to enhance midwifery care in Tanzania
App leads to better birth preparation for pregnant women