UBC and MEMOTEXT collaborate on a support text message program for pregnant women in B.C.
Optimal Birth BC, a partnership between academic researchers from UBC and provincial health authorities, have launched a research program to examine the effectiveness and scalability of a prenatal education program delivered by text messaging for expectant women in BC. The study will include all pregnant women with a specific focus on increasing accessibility to women living in rural areas or who are at a socio-economic disadvantage.
The study developed from review of studies that indicate that less than one third of Canadian women attend prenatal classes and instead, are turning to online sources of prenatal information. These sources are not necessarily based on current evidence and are sponsored by lay groups or commercial interests. Therefore, women are not sufficiently prepared to make informed choices to promote a healthy birth. The goal of the program, SmartMom, is to teach women about what they can expect during pregnancy and how to prepare for the birth of their baby. It will also help direct them to the proper local, regional and provincial services they may require during this time.
MEMOTEXT will provide a comprehensive intervention using adaptive SMS/Text message to send unique, personalized content to the expectant women enrolling in SmartMom. The participants receive educational messages linked to their gestational age and these messages will help to support informed decision making and adopt healthy behaviours. UBC believes with these educational text messages from SmartMom, will lead to better health for pregnant women and their babies, with fewer complications.
This collaboration will lead to improved access to information which could potentially improve health outcomes dramatically.
About MEMOTEXT
MEMOTEXT improves outcomes for patients and the bottom line for healthcare stakeholders by ensuring patients adhere to their treatment. With a proprietary, evidence-based self-learning algorithm and communications platform, MEMOTEXT integrates behavior change into the everyday lives of patients with personalized, secure, interactive voice, text, and mobile communications. Visit www.memotext.com
About UBC
The University of British Columbia is ranked among the 40 best universities in the world and is a global centre for research and teaching. It provides research funding for a number of different projects and currently has 1,342 research projects being conducted with industry partners, as well as 1,112 in research agreements with government and non-profit organizations. Learn more visit www.ubc.ca
About Optimal Birth BC
Optimal Birth BC is a group of researchers and clinical practitioners. They work with health authorities in British Columbia to review rates of birth by caesarean section and all associated factors. Optimal Birth BC believes there is room to decrease caesarean rates and at the same improve outcomes for the mother and baby. Learn more visit
http://optimalbirthbc.ca/