In Kilifi County, more mothers are actively seeking maternal health information, county teams are using real-time data to respond quickly to high-burden issues, and frontline health workers report greater confidence in managing obstetric emergencies. These shifts are emerging from a county-led effort to integrate digital tools into routine maternal and newborn health services rather than treating them as standalone projects.
For years, maternal and newborn care in Kilifi has been challenged by persistent barriers: long distances between communities and facilities, delayed care-seeking, limited access to timely health information, and uneven quality of care. Since 2019, Kilifi County and Jacaranda Health have been working to strengthen how the public health system responds to these challenges by integrating digital engagement with mothers, frontline health worker support, and real-time county data systems into routine care.
One of the clearest shifts has been in how mothers interact with the health system. Since 2022, more than 160,000 women have enrolled in PROMPTS, Jacaranda Health’s AI-powered two-way SMS platform that allows mothers to receive stage-specific health information, ask questions, report concerns and give feedback directly. During the same period, active engagement with the platform increased more than sevenfold, rising from 4,374 women in 2022 to over 32,000 in 2025.
“PROMPTS has supported our efforts by sharing the right information with mothers. This has improved access to public health care,” says Peter Mwaroho, Kilifi County’s County Executive Committee Member for Health. This increase indicates a health-seeking behaviour shift in mothers in Kilifi. Today, more women are not only receiving information but using the platform to seek support during pregnancy and after delivery.
“There has been improved ANC attendance within various sub-counties,” Peter Mwaroho continues to mention. County data shows a gradual improvement in uptake of the recommended eighth antenatal care contact, which increased from 2.62% in 2022 to 4.77% in 2025.
At the County level, another major shift has been in how maternal and newborn health data is used. Previously, county teams often relied on delayed or fragmented reporting systems. Today, 176 county users have been onboarded onto our PULSE dashboard, which enables teams to monitor key maternal and newborn indicators in real time.
According to Dr. Hasan Leli, Director of Health Services in Kilifi County, this has improved the county’s ability to identify and respond to issues faster.
Accessing data allows our team to assess trends, our strengths and areas for improvement, quarterly,” he says. “It has helped me to prioritise high-burden indicators much faster than traditional sources such as registers and suggestion boxes. This monitoring is real-time, which has made my work easier. It has been a game changer.”
One of the key actions the county health team has taken is implementing targeted facility MENTORS training. Through reported maternal and neonatal causes of death, the facilities can identify recurring gaps in clinical care and prioritise training in the areas where frontline health workers need the most support. This has enabled the county to respond more strategically to high-burden complications such as postpartum haemorrhage, neonatal sepsis, and birth asphyxia, while strengthening the confidence and preparedness of health workers managing emergencies at the facility level. These actions are now being reflected in maternal health indicators. Between 2022 and 2025, reported cases of antepartum haemorrhage declined by approximately 35%, while obstructed labour cases reduced by nearly 28%. Fresh stillbirth rates also showed a slight decline over the same period.
What is changing in Kilifi is not simply the introduction of digital tools. The county is building stronger connections between mothers and facilities, integrating data into decision-making, and embedding interventions into routine public health services rather than operating them separately from government systems. For counties navigating constrained resources and growing health demands, Kilifi’s experience offers an important lesson: reductions in maternal and neonatal mortality happen when digital tools align with county priorities, leadership, and existing health systems.