Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana
Abstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic period Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) were seen to facilitate healthcare delivery by using their mobile phones also known as “informal mHealth”, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). WhatsApp has become popular in recent years with over 380 millio...
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BMC
2025-01-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-12245-3 |
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| author | Kwame S. Safo Daniel Opoku Richard A. Bonney Clement K. Serchim Kofi A. Mensah |
| author_facet | Kwame S. Safo Daniel Opoku Richard A. Bonney Clement K. Serchim Kofi A. Mensah |
| author_sort | Kwame S. Safo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic period Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) were seen to facilitate healthcare delivery by using their mobile phones also known as “informal mHealth”, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). WhatsApp has become popular in recent years with over 380 million users. It has therefore been identified that the effective use of WhatsApp by HCP for health could positively impact it. This study aims to assess the potential effect of the use of WhatsApp by HCPs on Maternal Health Services (MHS) uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic in four primary healthcare facilities in the Kwadaso Municipality of Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional study design was adopted using a quantitative approach involving a census sampling technique to collect data on monthly Maternal Health Services (MHS) attendance from the District Health Information Management Systems (DHIMS 2). Data collection was for the period March 2019 to February 2020 and March 2020 to February 2021. Results During the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of WhatsApp as a mHealth intervention helped improve maternal health case management and patient confidence. This led to a 5.64% (p=0.02) increase in ANC attendance and a 5.62% (p=0.02) rise in health facility deliveries. However, although PNC service attendance dropped slightly (7.06%, p=0.95), it was not statistically significant. Overall, key maternal health indicators showed significant improvements from 2019 to 2021 COVID-19 period. Conclusion WhatsApp usage by HCPs for a positive and timely patient management showed an increased attendance for ANC and delivery services in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reveals that the use of WhatsApp for maternal health services referrals can be used as a communication tool for the management of high-risk obstetric referrals also. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c8d2e2d885be49068752a65634043eb5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-c8d2e2d885be49068752a65634043eb52025-01-19T12:15:11ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632025-01-012511710.1186/s12913-025-12245-3Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in GhanaKwame S. Safo0Daniel Opoku1Richard A. Bonney2Clement K. Serchim3Kofi A. Mensah4eHealth Research Partner Group (eHRPG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyeHealth Research Partner Group (eHRPG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyeHealth Research Partner Group (eHRPG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyeHealth Research Partner Group (eHRPG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyeHealth Research Partner Group (eHRPG) at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and TechnologyAbstract Background During the COVID-19 pandemic period Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) were seen to facilitate healthcare delivery by using their mobile phones also known as “informal mHealth”, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). WhatsApp has become popular in recent years with over 380 million users. It has therefore been identified that the effective use of WhatsApp by HCP for health could positively impact it. This study aims to assess the potential effect of the use of WhatsApp by HCPs on Maternal Health Services (MHS) uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic in four primary healthcare facilities in the Kwadaso Municipality of Ghana. Methods A cross-sectional study design was adopted using a quantitative approach involving a census sampling technique to collect data on monthly Maternal Health Services (MHS) attendance from the District Health Information Management Systems (DHIMS 2). Data collection was for the period March 2019 to February 2020 and March 2020 to February 2021. Results During the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of WhatsApp as a mHealth intervention helped improve maternal health case management and patient confidence. This led to a 5.64% (p=0.02) increase in ANC attendance and a 5.62% (p=0.02) rise in health facility deliveries. However, although PNC service attendance dropped slightly (7.06%, p=0.95), it was not statistically significant. Overall, key maternal health indicators showed significant improvements from 2019 to 2021 COVID-19 period. Conclusion WhatsApp usage by HCPs for a positive and timely patient management showed an increased attendance for ANC and delivery services in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reveals that the use of WhatsApp for maternal health services referrals can be used as a communication tool for the management of high-risk obstetric referrals also.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-12245-3COVID-19Maternal referralWhatsAppMaternal health services |
| spellingShingle | Kwame S. Safo Daniel Opoku Richard A. Bonney Clement K. Serchim Kofi A. Mensah Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana BMC Health Services Research COVID-19 Maternal referral Maternal health services |
| title | Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana |
| title_full | Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana |
| title_short | Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana |
| title_sort | potential effects of whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during covid 19 a cross sectional study in ghana |
| topic | COVID-19 Maternal referral Maternal health services |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-025-12245-3 |
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