{"id":612,"date":"2021-12-20T14:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T14:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pathfinder.local\/?post_type=essay&#038;p=612"},"modified":"2025-07-18T13:26:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T17:26:22","slug":"m-mama-an-emergency-transport-system-in-tanzania-is-saving-mothers-lives","status":"publish","type":"essay","link":"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/impact-stories\/m-mama-an-emergency-transport-system-in-tanzania-is-saving-mothers-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"m-mama: An Emergency Transport System in Tanzania is Saving Mothers\u2019 Lives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"466\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-613 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-525x239.png 525w, https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-768x350.png 768w, https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/image-300x137.png 300w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/466;\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><em>An m-mama mobile taxi in the Shinyaga Region of Tanzania. Photo credit: Vodaphone<\/em>v<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Imagine being transported\u2014unconscious\u2014in order to safely deliver your baby. That\u2019s exactly what happened to Anna during a prolonged labor. While Anna had traveled to her village dispensary when she began to labor, the health care providers quickly determined that her labor was obstructed\u2014and to save her, and her baby\u2019s life, she would need an emergency caesarean-section (CS). That\u2019s when a private taxi was called to get Anna to Shinyanga Regional Referral Hospital, where she immediately underwent a CS, delivering a healthy baby girl.<sup>1<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Anna\u2019s driver was part of an emergency transportation system established under the m-mama Project \u2014or, Mobilizing Maternal Health\u2014that throughout Tanzania\u2019s Shinyanga region, is saving lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For the last three years, Pathfinder\u2019s m-mama program, in partnership with the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/touchfoundation.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Touch Foundation<\/a>&nbsp;and the Regional Health Management Team (RHMT) of Shinyanga, has worked to address the \u2018three delays\u2019 that contribute to maternal and neonatal emergencies. These \u2018three delays\u2019 have direct impacts on mothers\u2019 and babies\u2019 health and survival. They are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Delays in making the decision to seek care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delays in identification of\u2014and transport to\u2014a medical facility<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Delays in receipt of adequate, and appropriate, treatment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>M-mama has developed an innovative three-tiered approach to removing these three delays: engaging the community; providing emergency transport for mothers and babies; and strengthening the local health systems so when mothers and babies arrive at a health facility, they receive the quality care they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Step 1: Engaging the Community<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Community engagement is at the heart of M-Mama\u2019s success. Throughout Shinyanga, the m-mama program has developed \u2018Community Care Groups\u2019, and leaders of these groups conduct monthly meetings with groups of pregnant and postpartum women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Facilitators ensure that all women in the groups have access to the toll-free number developed for the emergency transportation system and identify women exhibiting \u2018danger signs\u2019 during their pregnancies. The m-mama program has distributed more than 30,000 information, education, and communication materials, disseminating critical maternal and neonatal health messages across the region and building awareness about the emergency transport program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"m-mama: Saving Lives in Tanzania\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MR-oqum3S1E?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Step 2: Establishing a Dispatch Center and Providing Emergency Transport for Mothers<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The next step in addressing the \u2018three delays\u2019 was ensuring that when women needed care, they could get to local health facilities. To do this, m-mama first developed a dispatch center. This involved developing a mobile application, setting toll-free numbers for users and drivers, and recruiting and training dispatchers. M-mama also coordinated emergency transportation options for ambulances and private taxis and set up systems so private taxis were reimbursed properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>M-mama engaged a network of local&nbsp; community taxi drivers in places where ambulances weren\u2019t readily available. Expectant moms\u2014or their families and neighbors\u2014can now make toll-free calls 24\/7 to a local dispatch center, where call handlers assess the patient\u2019s condition using the \u201cm-mama App,\u201d which was designed to determine what kind of care the patient needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To ensure the best outcomes, dispatchers participated in detailed trainings on maternal and newborn health and triaging difficult cases from the m-mama program staff. If it is determined that care is required, the nearest ambulance driver or community taxi driver is identified on the app, and they receive a request to take the woman to the closest health facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Before the inception of m-mama, taxi drivers would often refuse to transfer patients, as rates were negotiable and couldn\u2019t be agreed upon. M-mama addressed this challenge by setting pre-negotiated rates and paying taxi drivers directly upon completion of their trips<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Mmamafamily-1024x707.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-614 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/707;\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A community taxi driver with women whom he has transported, after meeting at a health facility in Shinyanga.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Step 3: Strengthening Local Health Systems<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The third component of m-mama was to ensure that once women received transport, the care they got was what they needed. Pathfinder conducted basic emergency obstetric and newborn care trainings, developed specifically to reduce maternal and newborn mortality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pathfinder trained 30 health care providers that served 15 local facilities and worked to ensure mothers and babies received quality care when they arrived. To ensure that these trainings translated into real-world scenarios, the m-mama project tailored supportive supervision, linking providers with clinical mentorship to ensure they had the right skills to provide quality care. These skills included managing pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, ensuring availability of essential medicine and supplies, and supporting the correct use of the partograph, a graphic record of key data recorded during a woman\u2019s labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, m-mama is up and running in all six districts of Tanzania\u2019s Shinyanga region, and is &nbsp;providing life-saving care to more than 140,000 women in the 15 facilities supported by the program. Community taxis have transported more than 9,000 women in the six districts, and in the upcoming six years, the program will be scaled to 14 districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>m-mama Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Established four toll-free numbers for m-mama users, with 10 billboards displaying the numbers in the region<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Distributed 30,000 leaflets and 800 posters about the program<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Supported 5,796 emergency transportations<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Engaged 220 healthcare workers in trainings on basic emergency obstetric and newborn care and neonatal intensive care<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ensured sustainability:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Year 1: Project paid 100% of community taxi costs<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Year 2: Project paid 50% and government paid 50%<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Year 3: Government paid 100% of community taxi costs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reached 7,391 women with sexual and reproductive health information<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Supported 97% (3,180) of mothers who attended sessions to deliver at health facilities<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>For more details on m-mama, including results, see our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/M-Mama_Fact_Sheet_Final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fact Sheet: m-mama \u2013 Mobilizing Maternal Health<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Sources<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Story adapted from:&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/touchfoundation.org\/news\/the-powerful-impact-of-the-m-mama-emergency-transport-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/touchfoundation.org\/news\/the-powerful-impact-of-the-m-mama-emergency-transport-system\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":614,"template":"","class_list":["post-612","essay","type-essay","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/essay"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/essay"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pathfinder.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}