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Purpose

Increase safe birthing for mothers and their babies, through reliable health information and delivery with a skilled birth attendant present

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Approach

A mobile health initiative that strengthens communication, information sharing and clinic planning

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Impact

>140,000 women registered

Enrolled women are 2x more likely to deliver their baby at a health facility

Enrolled women are 5x more likely to attend follow-up care after their baby is born

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Partners

Hamutuk Nasaun Saudavel (HAMNASA), Timor-Leste Ministry of Health, USAID, supported by Australian Aid

Helping families make informed decisions

No woman or baby should die during childbirth. But in remote areas, access to healthcare can be challenging. Babies are frequently born at home in Timor-Leste, and as a result lack access to medical care.

Liga Inan is a national health program aiming to reduce the nation's high maternal and infant mortality ratios. It supports Timor-Leste’s aim to improve reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health by increasing access to antenatal, delivery and postnatal care, and family planning services.

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The program uses simple mobile technology, and focuses on enhancing relationships and trust between healthcare providers and pregnant women.

Introduced to women at their first prenatal medical visit, expectant mothers can use mobile phones to connect with healthcare providers, improving the likelihood of a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Women receive information via SMS to help them make informed decisions as well as phone calls from midwives at key points of their pregnancy. Information, including nudges to visit their clinic at critical times, prevent disease, and make preparations for delivery, is tailored to the stage of pregnancy and continues six months post-birth.

Women can also request a call back from a health provider and receive broadcast messages about important community events like vaccination days, district or village outbreaks, and public health information about COVID-19.

Making things easier for frontline health workers

Using the Liga Inan system, midwives and doctors register expectant mothers to track their progress, easily contact them, know when they go into labour and make arrangements for attending the delivery.

The app collects birth-related health data including where enrolled mothers delivered their babies (health facility, home with skilled birth attendants, or home without skilled birth attendants), allowing health providers to monitor trends and make decisions about health services.

Independent research conducted by the National Health Institute found:

  • 64% of women surveyed identified Liga Inan as their primary source of maternal health information
  • 58% of women surveyed said they received the best quality information on maternal and child health from Liga Inan
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Health staff are able to monitor the status of pregnant women, easily contact them, and view clinic statistics.
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A pregnant woman came to our health facility last week. She told us that she's illiterate but sends her daughter to school. Her daughter is the one who usually reads Liga Inan messages to her. Her daughter informed her that according to the message from Liga Inan, she was expected to deliver in a couple of days. So the pregnant woman came to the health facility and delivered with the assistance of a health provider. Both mother and baby are well.

Casilda, midwife in Gleno, Ermera Municipality, Timor-Leste

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Liga Inan has now been expanded to include a parallel program called Liga Familia which encourages those closest to pregnant women (eg. fathers-to-be, mothers, in-laws) to actively support women and their babies throughout the pregnancy-to-parenthood journey.

Utilising the Liga Inan messaging system, those registered with Liga Familia receive tailored advice on birth planning, identifying risks, contributing to positive relationships, and the importance of postnatal health appointments.

Return to projects
Supported by
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Further reading
http://www.ligainan.org
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