SynthesisBMC health services research2023
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.
Synthesis in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 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
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of Digital Health Interventions on Breastfeeding Rates, Self-Efficacy, and Knowledge: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Pooled it
- Effectiveness of mHealth-Based Nutritional Interventions on Iron Status of Pregnant Women: Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials.JMIR mHealth and uHealth · 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
- 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
- Social support as a coping resource for psychosocial conditions in postpartum period: a systematic review and logic framework.BMC psychology · 2024Pooled it
- The effect of an interactive mobile health intervention to improve community-based essential neonatal care practices among postpartum women in northeast Ethiopia: a cluster randomized controlled trial.International health · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Is Digital Healthcare Better Than None? The Digital Health Technology Dilemma in Low-Income Countries.Asian bioethics review · 2026Article
- Design and impact of gamification, theory-driven frameworks, and human-centered design in mobile health applications for preconception care: A systematic review protocol.Journal of education and health promotion · 2026Review
- A comprehensive model of maternal health behavior: the interplay of sociodemographic and digital determinants in Nigeria.Cadernos de saude publica · 2026Article
- Lessons learned from approaches in COVID-19 risk Communication and community engagement in Malawi: an exploratory study.International journal of qualitative studies on health and well-being · 2025Article
- Maternal health education and social support needs across the perinatal continuum of care: a thematic analysis of interviews with postpartum women in Punjab, India.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- Article
- Preliminary impact of an mHealth education and social support intervention on maternal health knowledge and outcomes among postpartum mothers in Punjab, India.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- When HIPAA hurts: legal barriers to texting may reinforce healthcare disparities and disenfranchise vulnerable patients.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Review
- LoVE4MUM Mobile App to Prevent Postpartum Depression: Protocol for a Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2025Article
- Institutional delivery and its determinants among reproductive-age women in Mozambique: A geographic weighted regression.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Digital Health Literacy Among Immigrants in Spain: Implications for Health Equity and Policies.International journal of public health · 2025Article
- Examining the Perceptions of mHealth on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Postpartum Health for Black Women: A Scoping Review.Health promotion practice · 2024Article
- Mobile health (mHealth) interventions for health promotion during the perinatal period in India: a scoping review.Frontiers in global women's health · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMaternal mortality due to pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum is a global challenge. Particularly, in low-and lower-income countries, the outcomes of these complications are quite substantial. In recent years, studies exploring the effect of mobile health on the improvement of maternal health are increasing. However, the effect of this intervention on the improvement of institutional delivery and postnatal care utilization was not well analyzed systematically, particularly in low and lower-middle-income countries.
objectiveThe main aim of this review was to assess the effect of mobile heath (mHealth) interventions on improving institutional delivery, postnatal care service uptake, knowledge of obstetric danger signs, and exclusive breastfeeding among women of low and lower-middle-income countries.
methodsCommon electronic databases like PubMed, EMBASE, the Web of Science, Medline, CINAHL, Cochrane library, Google scholar, and gray literature search engines like Google were used to search relevant articles. Articles that used interventional study designs and were conducted in low and lower-middle-income countries were included. Sixteen articles were included in the final systematic review and meta-analysis. Cochrane's risk of bias tool was used to assess the quality of included articles.
resultsThe overall outcome of the systematic review and meta-analysis showed that MHealth intervention has a positive significant effect in improving the institutional delivery (OR = 2.21 (95%CI: 1.69-2.89), postnatal care utilization (OR = 4.13 (95%CI: 1.90-8.97), and exclusive breastfeeding (OR = 2.25, (95%CI: 1.46-3.46). The intervention has also shown a positive effect in increasing the knowledge of obstetric danger signs. The subgroup analysis based on the intervention characteristics showed that there was no significant difference between the intervention and control groups based on the intervention characteristics for institutional delivery (P = 0.18) and postnatal care utilizations (P = 0.73).
conclusionsThe study has found out that mHealth intervention has a significant effect on improving facility delivery, postnatal care utilization, rate of exclusive breastfeeding, and knowledge of danger signs. There were also findings that reported contrary to the overall outcome which necessitates conducting further studies to enhance the generalizability of the effect of mHealth interventions on these outcomes.
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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.