M-Mama system rescues 150,740 mothers, newborns in Tanzania

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND: OVER 150,740 mothers and newborn children who were in the emergency rooms for maternal health services have been successfully granted urgent transportation through the community-level referral system (m-mama) as of May this year.

The m-mama system is a national emergency transportation service for pregnant women and newborns, designed to improve access to healthcare and reduce maternal and newborn mortality. It operates through a toll-free number that connects callers to dispatch centers, where their condition is assessed and the nearest available driver is dispatched to transport the woman to the appropriate health facility.

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The Chief Medical Officer, Dr Grace Magembe, made the statement in a meeting at the World Health Organization (WHO) General Assembly in Geneva, saying that the move has saved the lives of expectant mothers and a total of 6,279 newborns.

As stated by the Ministry of Health, the meeting in Geneva aimed at discussing how countries in Africa, Asia, and the Far East have used various strategies to reduce maternal mortality, including infrastructure development, use of technology, community health workers, and staff training.

Elaborating, the Chief Medical Officer explained how the government has invested in improving health infrastructure in the country, especially at the primary level, including buildings, equipment, and medical supplies, as well as expanding the number of health centers that offer emergency cesarean section services.

“We saw some pregnant women who were in the emergency and needed to be transported from one facility to another for specialized services and that is where our m-mama journey began,” the Dr said.

Additionally, Dr Magembe stated that the m-mama service has given the country valuable experience, and that Tanzania is ready to collaborate with international communities to develop innovative and technological solutions for emergency transport that are affordable and sustainable, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas.

“We are ready to learn from other international communities to make sure that maternal and newborn deaths become a history as the country works toward meeting the global goal of reducing maternal mortality to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by the year 2030,” she noted.