Mobile-health service GiftedMom has joined Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a pledge to expand its operations in three new African countries and stop easily preventable maternal and infant deaths. The innovative healthcare provider connects medical professionals to pregnant women and nursing mothers on mobile phones across Cameroon as well as provide health information for its users via SMS, online articles and a smartphone application. GiftedMom will plan to launch its service in Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, and Kenya to improve access to antenatal care to 500,000 pregnant women, improve the vaccination turnout of 700 000 children, and improve access to health services of 500,000 users by 2020.

Launched in 2008, BCtA aims to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by challenging companies to develop inclusive business models that engage people with less than US$10 per day in purchasing power (in 2015 dollars) as consumers, producers, suppliers and distributors. It is supported by several international organizations and hosted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Worldwide, about 800 pregnant women die each day. Easily preventable diseases lead to around 1.5 million infant deaths every year. In Cameroon, the maternal mortality rate stands at 596 per 100,000 live births and the infant mortality rate is at 60 per 1000 live births. Most of these deaths could be prevented with access to antenatal care and information, vaccinations or timely health advice. Pregnant women and nursing mothers living in developing countries often delay decisions to seek healthcare and their remote locations limit them when trying to find health information or reach medical professionals for check-ups.

GiftedMom turns an everyday communication tool such as the mobile phone into a channel for health advice, bridging the gap between medical assistance/health information and low-income African women. Expectant and nursing mothers can sign-up for the phone service with a one-off subscription fee of less than a dollar or download the smartphone application from Google Playstore. Using SMS messages, the innovative automated SMS and voice messaging platform automatically reminds users of antenatal appointments, provide vaccination alerts, advice on health risks and complications, as well as information on family planning and breastfeeding.

Through their BCtA commitment, GiftedMom democratises health by expanding access to antenatal care, health services and vaccinations for rural and urban women and children at the Base of the economic Pyramid (BoP). For users who cannot read or write, SMS messages can be sent via a voice application and translated into the local language. In addition to text messages, chatbots provide useful health services to users through GiftedMom’s online channels when there is no need for a doctor.