OMOMi is leveraging digital technology to provide women with easy access to quality maternal health care

Statistics show that black women do not have their pain taken as seriously as white women, which is a contributing factor why some expectant black mothers are choosing to hire doulas for their pregnancies. The doulas do more than help with childbirth – they provide resources to the mothers leading up to the birth as well as hold health care practitioners accountable for their biases.

To combat high infant mortality rates, rural Louisiana invested money and resources on providing public health nurses, gave Medicaid-eligible pregnant women nurses to assist them through pregnancy and the first year after birth, also began promoting long-acting reversible contraception. In two years, the region halved its infant mortality rate.

A new app and scope that attaches to a smartphone camera has the capability to photograph a woman's cervix in high definition and send the photo to clinicians for diagnosis. This device replaces previously very expensive machines that takes similar photos and allows clinics in remote or underserved areas to access the same level of care as patients with more access to healthcare. Additionally, the app stores all of these photos in its database and is actively developing its own diagnostic tools so that in the future, the app can even help physicians to diagnose cervical cancer.

A Buffalo, New York clinic provides a space for both abortions and natural births. In looking at the experiences as a continuum, rather than as juxtaposing sides, the hope is to change how people think about the birth experiences.

Babyl Health provides over 3,000 daily e-health consultations to bridge the gap between Rwandan providers and patients. The two million registered users can dial *811# to book an appointment and are triaged, with those needing more extensive care referred to one of the 483 partner clinics around the country. The country’s universal health coverage pays for 90% of the appointment and the patient pays 200 RWF. The platform works on an app available on most citizens’ phones and doesn’t require an internet connection. When needed, patients receive prescriptions via SMS that they can bring to a local pharmacy.

To help pregnant women during the COVID-10 pandemic, the government in Uganda sold travel and private hospital care vouchers to those in their third trimester to ensure the women had access to the care they would need. The program connected the women with health resources in their own areas and also guaranteed that they get routine services such as antenatal and postnatul checkups.

To better serve women of color during pregnancies and childbirth, women in Philadelphia have started offering workshops to teach about and advocate for increased understanding around the birthing experience. With statistics indicating that black women are more likely to experience complications during their pregnancies, these workshops address in a gap in care for "black women’s desires for alternative, and better, birth and postpartum experiences."

Endometriosis impacts millions of women across the world, but many don't know what sort of symptoms to look for or how to treat it. To address this, a team at Columbia University developed an app that focuses on awareness and early diagnosis.

Steps toward preventing maternal mortality – a problem that plagues women worldwide – are being made. A handful of policies, including using data-informed approaches, providing access to doulas, and addressing racial inequality in the healthcare system, that directly target this issue are being implemented in from California to New York.

Two regions within Kenya, Mandera and Isiolo, have made significant strides in reducing their rate of maternal mortality cases. Both counties employed similar tactics, such as improving facility quality, increasing the number of healthcare workers, and training local community volunteers to advocate for ante-natal care. Among other metrics, Mandera now records 588 deaths per 100,000 live births (down from 3,795), and Isiolo now has 57 facilities (up from 47) to make healthcare more accessible.