Postnatal neonatal outcomes of a targeted mobile phone intervention use in antenatal care amongst pregnant women in a pastoralist community in narok county, Kenya: a randomized control trial

Background: Complications in pregnancy, at childbirth and the pueperium cause high mortality and morbidity among women and neonates globally especially in the Lower and Middle Income Countries. Antenatal care is a key high impact strategy to improve maternal and child health. The objective of the study was to examine the effects of a targeted mobile phone intervention use in the provision of antenatal care on attendance and subsequent postnatal outcomes among pregnant women in a pastoralist community. Methods: We conducted a Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) in four hospitals in Narok County, Kenya. Pregnant women were recruited early in pregnancy and followed upto 42 days after delivery. Recruitment started in June 2018. There were two study groups; the intervention and non-intervention groups with the non-intervention group receiving the routine care. Results: Two-hundred-and-sixty-two of the 280 study participants completed the study (93.6% response rate). The difference in proportion of study participants who had neonatal mortality at birth between the two study arms was 9.32% (95% CI 1.91-16.74%) between the intervention (6.06%) and the non-intervention (15.38%) study arms (p value = 0.015). Conclusion: A targeted mobile phone intervention used in antenatal care was associated with improved antenatal care attendance and better neonatal outcomes. Keywords: Postnatal neonatal outcomes; targeted mobile phone intervention; use in antenatal care amongst pregnant women; in a pastoralist community in Narok county; Kenya.