SynthesisJournal of medical Internet research2022
Effects of mHealth Interventions on Improving Antenatal Care Visits and Skilled Delivery Care in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Journal of medical Internet research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effectiveness of mobile health applications with behaviour change techniques in improving maternal health outcomes: a systematic review.BMC public health · 2026Pooled it
- Community-Based Impact of Community-Based Antenatal Care Models on Prevention and Early Detection of Obstetric Complications: A Systematic Review.Annals of global health · 2026Pooled it
- Use of Technology to Support Health Care Providers Delivering Care in Low- and Lower-Middle-Income Countries: Systematic Umbrella Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness of SMS-based interventions in enhancing antenatal care in developing countries: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Alternative healthcare delivery arrangements in Nepal: a systematic review of comparative effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness studies.BMJ global health · 2025Pooled it
- The mHealth clinical decision-making tools for maternal and perinatal health care in Sub-Saharan Africa: A systematic review.PloS one · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating the Adoption of mHealth Technologies by Community Health Workers to Improve the Use of Maternal Health Services in Sub-Saharan Africa: Systematic Review.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2024Pooled it
- Effectiveness of mHealth Apps for Maternal Health Care Delivery: Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.Journal of medical Internet research · 2024Pooled it
- The effects of mHealth interventions on improving institutional delivery and uptake of postnatal care services in low-and lower-middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC health services research · 2023Pooled it
- The impact of interactive text communication on neonatal mortality in Kenya: a randomized controlled trial.Nature medicine · 2025Trial
- The impact of the Safe Delivery Application on knowledge and skills managing postpartum haemorrhage in a low resource setting: a cluster randomized controlled trial in West Wollega region, Ethiopia.Reproductive health · 2023Trial
- The FemTech revolution: Unlocking the potential of new technology for optimizing pregnancy outcomes in low- and middle-income countries and remote areas.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Pregnant women's perceptions and experiences of social media communication for antenatal care: a scoping review.BMJ open · 2026Article
- Chat-Based Decision Support System for the Maternal Health Journey in Assam, India: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Multiphase Implementation Study.JMIR research protocols · 2026Article
- Perceived usefulness and satisfaction of pregnant women with a WhatsApp-based education intervention aiming to improve access to pregnancy care: a mixed-methods evaluation.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Effect of mHealth on Postpartum Family Planning and Its Associated Factors Among Women in South Ethiopia: A Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- The Effectiveness of an Artificial Intelligence-Based Gamified Intervention for Improving Maternal Health Outcomes Among Refugees and Underserved Women in Lebanon: Community Interventional Trial.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 2025Article
- Impact of Mobile Health (mHealth) Use by Community Health Workers on the Utilization of Maternity Care in Rural Malawi: A Time Series Analysis.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- The Impact of Mobile Health (mHealth) in Maternal Health Services [Letter].International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Mobile health interventions on vaccination coverage among children under 5 years of age in Low and Middle-Income countries; a scoping review.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe poor coverage of essential maternal services, such as antenatal care (ANC) and skilled delivery care utilization, accounts for higher maternal and infant mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Although mobile health (mHealth) interventions could potentially improve the service utilization in resource-limited settings, their effectiveness remains unclear.
objectiveThis review aimed to summarize the effect of mHealth interventions on improving the uptake of ANC visits, skilled birth attendance at the time of delivery, and facility delivery among pregnant women in LMICs.
methodsWe conducted a comprehensive search on 9 electronic databases and other resources from inception to October 2020. We included individual randomized controlled trials and cluster randomized controlled trials that assessed the effectiveness of mHealth interventions for improving perinatal health care utilization among healthy pregnant women in LMICs. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis and estimated the pooled effect size by using risk ratios (RRs) with 95% CIs. In addition, 2 reviewers independently assessed the risk of bias of the included studies by using the Cochrane risk of bias tool and the certainty of the evidence by using the Grading of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach.
resultsA total of 9 studies (10 articles) that randomized 10,348 pregnant women (n=6254, 60.44% in the intervention group; n=4094, 39.56% in the control group) were included in this synthesis. The pooled estimates showed a positive effect of mHealth interventions on improving 4 or more ANC visit utilizations among pregnant women in LMICs, irrespective of the direction of interventions (1-way communications: RR 2.14, 95% CI 1.76-2.60, I
conclusionsmHealth interventions may contribute to improving ANC and skilled delivery care utilization among pregnant women in LMICs. However, more studies are required to improve their reproducibility and efficiency or strengthen the evidence of different forms of mHealth interventions because of the considerable heterogeneity observed in the meta-analyses.
trial registrationPROSPERO CRD42020210813; https://tinyurl.com/2n7ny9a7.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.