A team of  medical doctors in Abeokuta,  Ogun State, led by Dr. Niyi Osamiluyi, a physician, has pioneered a new way of using GSM phones to deliver health information and education to pregnant women.

Osamiluyi worked with the Ogun State government until he resigned recently to become the chief executive officer  and lead developer of Premier Medical Systems (PMS) Nig. Ltd.

He told  Sunday Sun in an interview that the programme called: “Omowunmi” is an application which delivers critical health information (via voice calls and SMS) to expectant mothers using mobile technology.

“The mobile phone penetration in Nigeria is said to be over 60 per cent and virtually every household has a phone. A basic phone is all that is required to receive messages.”, Osamiluyi said.

He explained that the programme is already undergoing a field trial under a pilot scheme at the Sacred Heart Hospital, Lantoro area of the state capital with a data base of over 250 expectant mothers.

Recently at the 2014 Partners Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, the   “Omowunmi” platform was among 40 committments launched towards the advancement of the Every New Born Action Plan (ENAP) of the United Nations (UN).

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and the United States Agency for International Development among others made commitments towards the achievement ofmthe UN-ENAP Initiative.

Interestingly, the Ogun State government has  endorsed the “Omowunmi” programme, and granted approval  that it be introduced in the  state-owned hospitals.

Under the initiative,  each registered expectant morher would receive health tips and reminders to attend antenatal clinic right from the fourth week of pregnancy till her delivery date.

Osamiluyi explains further how “Okowunmi” works. “Each pregnant mother gets messages based on her last menstrual period. This implies that each registered expectant mother would  receive messages that are specific for her gestational age. As a result, they get the information when they need it most

“The overall goal of  “Omowunmi” is to reduce maternal mortality by increasing Ante-natal clinic attendance and hospital delivery. This is because it has been established  that in Nigeria, only about 38 per cent of all deliveries are attended by skilled (doctor, midwife and nurse) and traditional birth attendants”.

 Basically, what we do is that once we get an expectant mothers last menstrual period and phone number, we key the information into our application and such a person begins to get our messages automatically”.

Osamiluyi said the desire to reduce Nigeria’s high maternal mortality rate, primarily caused by the fact that most deliveries happen at home, drove him and other members of the team to conceive the idea for the programme.

“So we are trying to increase antenatal clinic attendance which will lead to increased hospital delivery and in turn lead to a decrease in maternal mortality rate”, Osamiluyi explained.

Nigeria has one of the highest maternal mortality rates accounting for about 14 percent of worldwide maternal deaths.

He added that expectant mothers could also send an SMS to  a dedicated number for counsellimg and necesary advice. Such advice would include food and fruits that are beneficial to them, what they should avoid as pregnant mothers like drugs, the physiological changes to expect in their bodies and important milestones in the development of their baby.

Osamiluyi said the   Sacred Heart Hospital was chosen for the pilot scheme because it is generally and fondly acknowledged as the Ogun State version of the “baby factory” in Lagos represented by the popular Lagos Island Maternity.

But more importantly, the managememt of the health facility believed in the team and gave them ardent support during the initial stage of gathering data and developing the software and agreed to partner with the innovative medical doctors.

So selecting the hospital for the full dress rehearsal was the team’s way of saying ‘Thank You’ to the management.

Against the background of the MDGs, particularly Goals 4 and 5, Osamiluyi assured that the programme would be taken on amroad-show to other states to avail pregnant women across the cointry the beauty of  ‘Omowunmi’, stating: “We are not limiting ‘Omowunmi’ to Ogun State alone, we are already discussing with some major hospitals in Lagos with the overall goal of reducing maternal and infant mortality rates in Nigeria”.

Ossmiluyi said  ignorance had been establiashed a major factor contributiing to the high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria.

“Having practised as a medical doctor for about a decade,  I realised  that there was a low health literacy level amongst expectant mothers particularly in rural areas and these resulted in some of them having preventable complications during their pregnancy,  labour or delivery”.

During a visit to  the  Sacred Hospital, Lantoro, Sunday Sun observed  that women are excited about the programme and confessed that it had improved attendance at antenatal clinic sessions.

One of such happy beneficiaries is  Mrs. Rasheed Ajimobi, who  acknowledged that the programme had helped her and other pregnant women a lot.

She said: “Unlike in the past when I often forget my ante natal days, “Omowunmi”  reminds me through a text message as well as gives me, healthy tips on safe delivery”.

Another pregnant woman, Mrs. Adijat Akanni said she has been receiving regular messages reminding her of what to do at a particular period of her pregnancy adding, ” It is a good thing, as I receive messages more than four times in a week”.

While commending the hospital management for partnering with the team of doctors, another expectant mother,  Mrs. Abosede Peter, described the pilot scheme  as something very unique in the state.

“Since I registered with this hospital as a pregnant woman, I have been receiving regular messages from “Omowunmi”, reminding me of what I should do and not to do with  my pregnancy free of charge. It  makes people aware of their responsibility towards ensuring smooth pregnancy and safe delivery”, Peter ssid.

A senior nurse,  Mrs. Esther Ajayi, who spoke on behalf of the management of the hospital confirmed that the  informative and educative project has been helping both the health institution and pregnant women.

“Since we embraced it here, we, have noticed that more pregnant women attend the antenatal  clinics regularly. This is a great departure from the old practice, where many expectant mother forgot their clinic days”, she sair.

While recommending the programme for other pregnant women in the state,  Ajayi commended the initiative of the doctors who conceived the idea. “This is a lofty idea that I want to recommend to all pregnant women in the state and even beyond.”.