The Impact of Prenatal Short Messages (SMS) on Maternal and Newborn Health

Summary

It is hypothesized that delivering short messages (SMS) to pregnant women can improve maternal and newborn health outcomes. This pilot offers mothers-to-be in rural China free daily short messages (SMS) via cell phone. The aim is to advise them on (a) good household prenatal practices (GHPP) and (b) care seeking (CS) in order to improve the quality of life for mothers and newborns.

Conditions

• Short Message Service
• Text Messaging

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Good household prenatal practice

Knowledge on nutrition, labor, non-medical pain management, breastfeeding and depression

BEHAVIORAL

Care seeking

* Danger-sign recognition * Reminders for government projects

BEHAVIORAL

Full bank of SMS

* Danger-sign recognition * Reminders for government projects * Knowledge on nutrition, labor, non-medical pain management, breastfeeding and depression

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Xi'an Jiaotong University

  collaborator OTHER

• Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Yanfang Su, MA · Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

• Zhongliang Zhou, PhD · Xi'an Jiaotong University

• Changzheng Yuan, MS · Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

• Jesse Heitner, MPP · Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)

• Benjamin Campbell, BA · Dartmouth College

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Masking

SINGLE

Model

FACTORIAL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

45 Years

Sex

FEMALE

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2013-09-30

Primary Completion

2015-10-31

Completion

2016-03-31

Countries

• China

Study Locations