The Minister of Health, Aaron Motsoaledi, launched an innovation in mobile health technology in Pretoria, MomConnect. MomConnect provides personalised, unique antenatal and postnatal SMS reminders for expectant and new mothers in English, isiZulu and SeSotho. The messages are sent to the mother throughout her pregnancy and postnatally, until her infant is 18 months old. The Baby’s progress is tracked through the Integrated Electronic Patient Record System (IePRS), a medical record system known as Bookwise.

At the launch, the minister expressed that maternal and child health is not the sole responsibility of mothers, but that fathers need to play a more involved role in the wellbeing of their children. The lauch represents a continued commitment by the National Department of Health to provide services to vulnerable populations in addressing the current quadruple burden of disease. 

For more information about MomConnect, click here