Empowering Men and Involving Fathers in Maternal and Child Care with Information Communication Technology Tool

Suneetha Sapur, Akkshaya Foundation
Kathiresan Cinnusamy, Center for Development of Advanced Computing
Girija Vadlamudi, Center for Development of Advanced Computing

Gender inequality and lack of decision making power among women are few reasons for higher maternal and child mortality in India. Objective: To create awareness to male members of the family about reproductive health with the help of Mobile voice alerts. Methods: Spouses of 624 pregnant women and 255 fathers of 18 month old children were registered with their phone numbers for a mobile based reproductive health awareness program, an information communication technology tool (ICT), developed by Centre for Development of Advanced Computing. Pre recorded scheduled voice health alerts were sent on mobile. Awareness on reproductive health was assessed after one year. Results: 93.4%, 91%, 86.6%,19%,51%,89.5%,22.8% of them are aware of government monetary benefits, accompanying the wife to hospital, ultrasound test, vaccination, about institutional delivery, importance of colostrums feeds, growth and development of the child respectively ICT tool helped to create awareness in male members of the family about reproductive health