9 September 2014
Venue : School of Nursing and Midwifery, Aga Khan University
“m- Health is use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of healthcare objectives” (WHO). It is most appropriately understood as a tool for strengthening health systems and promoting healthy behaviors and facilitates to improve access to health information and services for underserved populations, generate cost efficiencies, and improve the capacity of health systems to provide quality health services.
Acknowledging the importance of m – health and its uses in midwifery, Midwifery Association of Pakistan (MAP) held a session on Maternal health, Midwives and m-Health by Dr Nighat Khan for Community midwives in September 2014 at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery. 21 practicing midwives from Karachi participated in this session Dr Nighat emphasized on the use of m- Health by saying that “Countries embrace m-Health as a complementary strategy for strengthening health systems, achieving their Millennium Development Goals for health and to achieve positive impact on health issues like Family planning, Maternal and child health, Malaria, Tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS”. Dr Khan informed the audience about an important synergy between m-Health and midwifery. Explaining the benefits of m-health for midwifery Dr Khan said that “m-Health can raise public awareness of midwifery care, build the capacity of midwives, and contribute towards midwifery workforce recruitment and retention.” Likewise, midwives can contribute towards shaping m-Health interventions that address the needs of local communities.Midwifery leadership in the field of m-Health at this early stage of its development will ensure future health programming that is relevant to the needs of women and the midwives who care for them.
Midwives can engage with the field of m-Health through
• Keeping abreast of latest developments
• Contribute to m-Health research
• Contributing towards the incorporation of m-Health tools into programming
• Ensure built-in evaluation mechanisms
• Enhance midwives’ network