Clinics in Mother and Child Health

Abstract

A Survey of the Experiences and Perceptions of Midwifery Nurses on the Mom Connect Programme in Bojanala, South Africa

SB Pitse and H Van Der Heever

MomConnect is a form of mobile health technology which requires healthcare workers to register and confirm the client’s pregnancy on a national database using a cell phone. This programme is driven by primary users such as midwifery nurses, hence the need to obtain their views. The objectives of this study were to determine the experiences and perceptions of midwifery nurses regarding the MomConnect programme in Bojanala health district, North West Province in South Africa. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was done with 100 midwifery nurses offering antenatal care in Rustenburg sub-district primary healthcare facilities. Mixed perceptions and experiences were identified. The majority of the respondents found MomConnect to be an acceptable way to provide continuous care (97%, n=97) and further support its continued use (87%, n=87). On the other hand, some respondents viewed MomConnect as extra work (52%, n=52), impossible to integrate into routine care (39%, n=39) and disrupting the workflow at times (44%, n=44).