Vodacom, and Mondia, a private m-commerce company dedicated to connecting, digitalising and monetising mobile consumers, announced the rollout of the Mum & Baby maternal health service across Lesotho from September 2021.
Mum & Baby is a freemium mobile health intervention that provides Vodacom subscribers with maternal, neonatal and child health information designed to encourage good health practices amongst pregnant women, mothers, partners and caregivers. Vodacom partnered with Mondia to create Mum & Baby’s tailored content, which includes videos, expert articles, and information-sharing SMS messages.
Mum & Baby also provides interactive tools including a due-date calculator, an immunisation calendar, a medication reminder and medicine-safety information. The service, which is available in Lesotho in both English and Sesotho, also includes a rewards component through which subscribers can earn vouchers, music and lullabies.
“Mum & Baby is our flagship health and wellness brand focusing on motherhood. We are proud of the way in which it contributes to our vision of building communities, bringing health solutions to more lives and promoting good health outcomes,” Ts’epo Thabisi Vodacom’s EHOD: Consumer Business and Customer Value, said.
“We have seen this in Lesotho where the indomitable Basotho spirit has come to the fore, as people find creative ways to stay connected, support each other and express themselves. We see our digital services connecting the people of Lesotho to the world wherever they are via Lesotho’s Blanket Network Coverage.”
Launched in South Africa in 2017, the Mum & Baby service had almost 2 million registered subscribers as at end August 2021.
The service provides positive socio-economic benefit in the geographies in which it operates.
In a KPMG survey conducted in order to understand the impact of the Mum & Baby service:
- Over 95% of respondents reported that they found the SMS messages received useful or very useful for learning new information about their and their child/children’s health and wellbeing;
- 98% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they had taken actions to improve their child’s health as a result of the information provided through the Mum & Baby service; and
- 98% of pregnant women and mothers surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that they had taken actions to improve their own health as a result of the information provided through the Mum & Baby service.
Paolo Rizzardini, Mondia Digital’s CEO, explained “The value of this partnership is now more critical than ever, with Lesotho’s infant mortality rate – which is one of the highest in the world – having been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in people avoiding medical services for fear of exposure to the virus. As a result, initiatives that put the power of good health directly in people’s hands remain immeasurably important. Mum & Baby provides a free, convenient way of accessing instant, expert advice where it is most needed.”
The Lesotho Mum & Baby service can be accessed here.
Also read: Vodacom, Mondia Launches Maternal Health Service In The DRC
