Lamu is one of six counties in Kenya slowly incorporating technology in their health services.
Even though it is famous as a tourist town surrounded by white, sandy beaches and islands, its health system leaves a lot to be desired.
In most cases, expectant women are forced to miss their prenatal or antenatal clinics due to the distance to where they could seek such services.
As a result, hundreds of babies missed immunisation while expectant women had to give birth at home.
The island county has now adopted Totohealth Service as one of the ways to encourage hospital delivery as well as intake of vaccines among infants and toddlers of up to two years.
Totohealth enables mothers and fathers to receive targeted and personalised messages timed at their child’s age or stage of pregnancy.
These messages give any warning signs in a child’s health or development, equip them with knowledge on nutrition, reproductive health, parenting and developmental stimulation.
As a result, the app has created and increased awareness among its target group, such as Zubeda Abdallah, who in June 2020 discovered she was three months pregnant.
Symptoms had suggested she might be having malaria or typhoid. Since she had earlier travelled to Tana River, she thought she must have contracted either disease, so she saw it wise to seek treatment.
It never crossed her mind she might be pregnant and, therefore, she never bothered to do a pregnancy test.
“I was directed to run some tests, including a pregnancy test, and it turned out to be positive,” she said.
Being a mother of one and looking forward to adding another member in her family, the news was warmly received by her family.
My husband, who also received the messages, used to remind me whenever I needed to go for clinics. They were a great reminder
Zubeda Abdallah
PREGNANCY JOURNEY
As a casual labourer living from hand to mouth, her visits to hospital for prenatal clinics were not a priority, not by choice but by circumstances.
When community health workers visited her and inquired about details of her personal life and status of her pregnancy, she was reluctant to share such information.
She however changed her mind when she was informed some of the details were meant for Totohealth service, where she would be receiving personalised info throughout her pregnancy period and beyond.
She later started receiving texts messages reminding her of when she should go back for prenatal care clinics, what diet to take, and so on.
Abdallah and her husband had been registered for Totohealth, a messaging service where couples or mothers of children under the age of two years receive free texts relevant to their pregnancy stage or age of their child.
“My husband, who also received the messages, used to remind me whenever I needed to go for clinics. They were a great reminder,” she said.
On the eighth month of her pregnancy, Abdallah slipped in the bathroom while taking a shower. Luckily she controlled herself not to fall on her belly.
As a precaution, she visited the hospital, where she was assured her baby was safe and sound and there was no cause for alarm.
For the remaining part of her pregnancy, Totohealth kept her in check in terms of her due dates and even reminded her how she should prepare to welcome her baby.
One morning in December, she started bleeding. At first when she felt warm liquid on her legs, she thought she had broken her water and was about to labour as her due date was within that month.
“Totohealth had informed me I was due in a few weeks, and when I started bleeding, I knew something must be amiss. I just prayed to God to preserve my baby,” she said.
Within minutes, she had lost consciousness. Efforts to rush her to hospital were hampered by Lamu’s terrain. They had to think of how they would get her there.
Abdallah’s husband and neighbours decided to use a boda boda. However, she could neither sit by herself nor did they find any rider willing to ferry her in her condition.
They resorted to carrying her using a homemade stretcher.
At the hospital, after a few check-ups, it was evident she had had a stillbirth. She had to be rushed to the theatre for surgery to remove the baby.
“By the time we got to the hospital, I was unconscious and I could have lost my life were it not for the health worker’s quick action,” she said.
“The app enabled me to monitor the progress of my pregnancy. Even though we lost the baby, I’m grateful we had Totohealth walking with us throughout the journey.” BY THE STAR