Special Delivery: An Analysis of mHealth in Maternal and Newborn Health Programs and Their Outcomes Around the World Tigest Tamrat • Stan Kachnowski Ó Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011 Abstract Mobile health (mHealth) encompasses the use of mobile telecommunication and multimedia into increasingly mobile and wireless health care delivery sys- tems and has the potential to improve tens of thousands of lives each year. The ubiquity and penetration of mobile phones presents the opportunity to leverage mHealth for maternal and newborn care, particularly in under-resourced health ecosystems. Moreover, the slow progress and funding constraints in attaining the Millennium Develop- ment Goals for child and maternal health encourage har- nessing innovative measures, such as mHealth, to address these public health priorities. This literature review pro- vides a schematic overview of the outcomes, barriers, and strategies of integrating mHealth to improve prenatal and neonatal health outcomes. Six electronic databases were methodically searched using predetermined search terms. Retrieved articles were then categorized according to themes identified in previous studies. A total of 34 articles and reports contributed to the findings with information about the use and limitations of mHealth for prenatal and neonatal healthcare access and delivery. Health systems have implemented mHealth programs to facilitate emer- gency medical responses, point-of-care support, health promotion and data collection. However, the policy infra- structure for funding, coordinating and guiding the sustainable adoption of prenatal and neonatal mHealth services remains under-developed. The integration of mobile health for prenatal and newborn health services has demonstrated positive outcomes, but the sustainability and scalability of operations requires further feedback from and evaluation of ongoing programs. Keywords mHealth Á Prenatal Á Neonatal Á Mobile technology Á Maternal Introduction The global proliferation of mobile technology has gener- ated a new tool to address public health challenges and shift the paradigm of health care access and delivery. According to the International Telecommunications Union, mobile coverage has increased to reach 90% of the world’s total population and 80% of the global population living in rural areas [1]. The growing ubiquity and penetration of mobile phones has helped fuel the initiation of mobile health (mHealth), the integration of mobile telecommuni- cation and multimedia into increasingly mobile and wire- less health care delivery systems [2, 3]. Mobile phones, in particular, are thriving in resource-limited health systems despite the scarcity of other technologies and infrastruc- ture; the organic permeation offers new means to address health needs, particularly in the global south [3–10]. This article examines the use of mHealth along three stages of the continuum of care for maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO). The MNCH consists of a compre- hensive trajectory for the health needs of women and children beginning with adolescence/pre-pregnancy to the postpartum and maternal phase of the mother; among S. Kachnowski Indian Institutes of Technology, Delhi, India T. Tamrat (&) Á S. Kachnowski (&) Healthcare Innovation and Technology Lab, 3960 Broadway, Room 410, New York, NY 10032, USA e-mail: author@hitlab.org; tt2389@hitlab.org S. Kachnowski e-mail: swk16@hitlab.org 123 Matern Child Health J DOI 10.1007/s10995-011-0836-3