What is MomConnect?

MomConnect is a flagship programme of the South African National Department of Health, which aims to support maternal and child health using mobile technology. Through MomConnect, pregnant women and new mothers receive free maternal health messaging via SMS or WhatsApp and can access a text-based helpdesk for ratings or queries.

Since its launch in 2014, almost 5 million mothers utilising public antenatal services have registered on the MomConnect platform in over 95% of public health facilities. Mothers receive health and pregnancy-related information until their baby is two. They can use the platform to seek healthcare guidance through an automated chatbot or a human-operated text-based helpdesk.

The MomConnect Communication Toolkit can be found here.

10 years of Health Impact

In its 10 years of operation, a number of studies have proven MomConnect to positively impact health behaviours, which meaningfully contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of reducing the maternal mortality ratio and ending preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age.

High Antenatal Care (ANC) attendance

• 96% of moms surveyed attended at least 4 ANC visits (compared to 76% in 2016 District Health System (DHS)), with the average mother attending 7.3 ANC visits.1

High Vaccination coverage

• 89% of moms surveyed reported that their baby received all six of the recommended vaccinations at 6 weeks old (validated with vaccination cards)¹ (compared to 74.1% for Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) 1st dose, 77.8% for Rotavirus Vaccine (RV) 1st dose, and Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) 1st dose, for children under 12 months old in NDoH monitoring data from April 2023 – February 2024, as best comparison).