AI enhances maternal health care in Kenya, experts say

University students are developing technology that incorporates artificial intelligence to help reduce the maternal mortality rate in Kenya.

Maternal mortality remains a key issue affecting women of reproductive age in Kenya. The Ministry of Health says more than 6,000 women die each year due to poor access to maternal health facilities.

The new technology allows health care workers to remotely monitor the conditions of pregnant women and their fetuses without physical visits to a hospital.

David Saruni, a computer science student at Kabarak University in Kenya’s Rift Valley region, is involved in developing the application, known as Mama’s Hub.

“The project objective is to prevent the onset of pre-eclampsia, which may cause death to mothers and even infants after their delivery,” Saruni said. “So, this project is going to save lives.”

The World Health Organization defines maternal health as the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period.

Despite a global decline in maternal mortality ratio over the past two decades, the WHO says the African region still lags. Africa accounts for more than two-thirds of maternal deaths worldwide.

With the Mama’s Hub application, the expectant mother wears a smartwatch that monitors vital signs such as blood pressure, heart rate and temperature. The monitor is connected to a mobile phone that relays the information to a database.

Health care workers at Mama’s Hub can review that information and refer women to nearby doctors if they are concerned.

Artificial intelligence enters the picture here, as patients will also be able to obtain prescriptions through a chatbot, which is now in the testing stages.

Moses Thiga, principal investigator of the Mama’s Hub project, said, “If the onset of the condition is detected before 20 weeks, then there are interventions that can be instituted. The same case with others like gestation or diabetes.

“All this boils down to timely and accurate information about the mother.”

The National Research Fund-supported technology also enables digitization of the prenatal care records of patients for easier access. It has been tested in prenatal clinics in the Rift Valley city of Nakuru, with the aim of rolling out to the rest of the country.

Nakuru County chief nursing officer Wendy Tirop said the digitization has improved record tracing.

"It makes it very [easy] for the health care provider to be able to trace and identify mothers who have failed to come to the clinic and do a follow-up,” Tirop said.