Launched in 2012, MAMA Bangladesh, or Aponjon, has reached more than 125,000 new and expectant moms with its mobile health service delivering critical stage-based health information.
 

Simply because of where they live in the world, millions of women are not able to access the basic health information every mom needs to have a safe pregnancy and a healthy baby. But with so many women around the world using mobile phones, it is now possible to provide timely health information in the most remote locations.

Culturally adapted, time-sensitive mobile messages about good nutrition, prenatal health, preparing for childbirth, recognizing signs of trouble, understanding the best way to feed a baby, and childhood immunizations can help mothers in low-resource settings survive pregnancy and give the best care to their children.

The Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) uses mobile technology to educate and empower new and expectant mothers in low-resource settings throughout the world to make the best decisions for themselves and their babies. Launched in 2011, MAMA is a multi-million dollar public-private partnership by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Johnson & Johnson, United Nations Foundation, mHealth Alliance and BabyCenter.

To date, MAMA is reaching over 530,000 mothers through an alliance of 235 organizations working in 59 countries, including MAMA country programs in Bangladesh, South Africa, and India.  MAMA will formally launch its India partnership in November, targeting women and their families living in urban slums.

Building on the success of its pregnancy and baby messages, MAMA recently announced Child Mobile Messages.  The free and timely text and voice messages are sent directly to a mother’s cell phone covering topics on how to best care for her child, including nutrition, hand washing, vaccination, and how to prevent pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. Messages are available for free to organizations and can be downloaded on MAMA’s website.  These messages are developed by BabyCenter, a Johnson & Johnson company, in partnership with MDG Health Alliance, GBC Health, and UNICEF in support of the Every Woman, Every Child and A Promise Renewed initiatives.      

 MAMA builds upon another innovative public-private partnership in the United States piloted by Johnson & Johnson, Text4Baby, a free service that provides messages to low-income pregnant women and new moms. Text4Baby has enrolled hundreds of thousands of moms and is promoted by networks of public health partners and health providers.