Pregnancy and motherhood are universal experiences that connect women across the globe. The needs of pregnant people in Kenya is not vastly different than those in the United States. Consequently, it makes sense that we can learn from programs helping moms across the globe.
Jacaranda Health has experience providing for women in Kenya. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down most of the world, Jacaranda health used its lessons learned in Eastern Africa and applied them to maternal care needs in North Carolina with the COVID Moms Helpline. People struggling to navigate pregnancy during the pandemic could use this free service to get answers to questions about pregnancy and access to care. Accessible from phone/text and Facebook messenger platforms between 8am – 8 pm in both English and Spanish, the service provides answers to questions about COVID safety, local services, mental health resources, employment and insurance (e.g. Medicaid and maternity leave), and local health system policies (like visitation policies). About 50% of the folks seeking answers did so in Spanish and users were distributed between both rural and urban locations.
COVID Moms Helpline is an excellent example of technology and program platforms developed in one part of the world being directly applicable to communities elsewhere. We encourage you to learn more about the program via this brief video.
About MHLIC Spark Sessions:
At the 2020 National Maternal Health Innovation Symposium, MHLIC shared over 20 Spark Session videos. These are a curated collection of brief presentations detailing innovative maternal health programs, policies, or strategies from around the nation. The goal was not only to share examples of creative work by others in maternal health but to “spark” ideas in viewers about how you might do something new or differently in your own work. You can view many of these innovative programs in our resource center or read about them in our blog.