The impact of digital health technologies on maternal health in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Maternal mortality is a significant global challenge, with its most devastating impact concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. This region accounts for 66% of global maternal deaths, where the maternal mortality ratio often exceeds 500 deaths per 100,000 live births. Mobile technology, prevalent worldwide and extending to low and lower-middle-income countries, encompasses digital health technologies such as mobile health (mHealth), telehealth, and digital health records. These digital health innovations offer solution to pregnancy-related mortality. This paper aims to explore the impact of digital health technologies on maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan African countries. Literature review was conducted using various online databases and identified twenty-one articles published in the last eight years that describe technology-based interventions used for maternal health. Inclusion criteria focused on low and lower-middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. The results demonstrate that digital health technologies have the potential to reduce maternal mortality by increasing knowledge of self-health practices among pregnant women, community health workers, and traditional birth attendants. Additionally, digital health technologies provide crucial information when complications arise, leading to increased utilization of health facilities and more deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants. Therefore, the study recommends the adoption of more digital health technologies in Sub-Saharan Africa to help alleviate maternal deaths in the region. The study is limited by its reliance on 21 articles reviewed, which may not comprehensively capture all relevant interventions. Additionally, the focus on low and lower-middle-income Sub-Saharan African countries may overlook contextual variations, and implementation challenges of digital health technologies are not extensively explored.