BACKGROUND Unacceptably high maternal and perinatal mortality remain a major challenge in many low income countries. Early detection and management of danger signs through improved access to maternal services is highly needed for better maternal and infant outcomes. The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of an interactive mobile messaging alert system on improving knowledge on danger signs, birth preparedness and complication readiness practices among pregnant women in Dodoma region, Tanzania. METHODS A controlled quasi experimental study of 450 randomly selected pregnant women attending antenatal care was carried in Dodoma municipal. Participants were recruited at less than 20 weeks of gestation during the first visit where 150 were assigned to the intervention and 300 to the control group. The intervention groups was enrolled in an interactive mobile messaging system and received health education messages and were also able to send and receive individualized responses on a need basis. The control group continued receiving usual antenatal care services offered at the ANC centers. Pregnant women were followed from their initial visit to the point of delivery. Level of knowledge on danger signs and birth preparedness were assessed at baseline and a post test was again given after delivery for both groups. Analyses of covariance, linear regression were employed to test the effectiveness of the intervention. RESULTS The mean age of participants was 25.6 years ranging from 16 to 48 years. There was significant mean scores differences for both knowleadge and birth preparedness between the intervention and the control group after the intervention (p < .001). The mean knowleadge score was (M = 9.531,SD = 2.666 in the intervention compared to M = 6.518,SD = 4.304 in the control, equivalent to an effect size of 85% of the intervention. Meanwhile, the mean score for IBPACR was M = 4.165,SD = 1.365 for the intervention compared to M = 2.631,SD = 1.775 in the control group with an effect size of 90% A multivariate linear regression showed a positive association between the intervention (p < 0.001) and level of knowledge (B = 2.910,95%CI = 2.199-3.621) and birth preparediness (B = 1.463,95%CI = 1.185-1.740). CONCLUSION The Interactive mobile messaging alert system demonstrated to be effective in increasing women's knowledge on danger signs and improving their birth preparedness practices.

中文翻译：

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在坦桑尼亚多多玛地区，使用交互式移动消息警报系统，提高孕妇对危险迹象和分娩准备做法的了解：一项受控的准实验研究。

背景技术在许多低收入国家，孕产妇和围生儿死亡率高得令人无法接受。迫切需要通过改善获得孕产妇服务的机会及早发现和管理危险信号，以改善孕产妇和婴儿的结局。这项研究的目的是测试交互式移动消息警报系统在提高坦桑尼亚多多玛地区孕妇对危险标志，出生准备和并发症准备情况的认识方面的有效性。方法在Dodoma市进行了450名随机选择的接受产前护理的孕妇的对照准实验研究。首次就诊时妊娠少于20周时招募参与者，其中150人被分配到干预措施，300人被分配到对照组。干预小组参加了交互式移动消息系统，并接收了健康教育消息，并且还能够根据需要发送和接收个性化的响应。对照组继续在ANC中心接受常规的产前护理服务。从初次就诊到分娩，一直对孕妇进行随访。在基线时评估了关于危险体征和出生准备的知识水平，并在两组分娩后再次进行了后测。协方差分析，线性回归被用来检验干预的有效性。结果参与者的平均年龄为25.6岁，范围从16到48岁。干预后与对照组相比，知识水平和出生准备的均值得分存在显着差异（p <.001）。干预的平均知识领导得分为（M = 9.531，SD = 2.666，对照组为M = 6.518，SD = 4.304，相当于干预量的85％。IBPACR的平均得分为M干预的= 4.165，SD = 1.365，对照组的M = 2.631，SD = 1.775，影响大小为90％。多元线性回归显示干预（p <0.001）与知识水平之间存在正相关关系（p <0.001）。 B = 2.910,95％CI = 2.199-3.621）和分娩准备（B = 1.463,95％CI = 1.185-1.740）结论交互式移动消息警报系统被证明可以有效提高妇女的出生率。