Background: With the rapidly rising use of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
globally, particularly mobile phones, there has been growing momentum to use these technologies
for the improvement of maternal and newborn health.
Objectives: Our literature review presents a rapid mapping of how ICT/mobile technology have
been used in low and middle income countries for monitoring and improving the quality of maternal
and newborn healthcare in general, as well as in the context of vital event registration and/or
maternal death reviews.
Methods: A rapid approach to systematic mapping was used. This involved searching academic
databases, a landscape scan of projects and programmes from websites and listservs, and personal
communication with key informants for further information.
We conducted two separate searches. One looked at the use of ICT/mobile technology for the
monitoring and improvement of quality of care in general. The second looked specifically at the use
of ICT/mobile technology in the context of vital event registration and/or maternal death reviews.
The findings from both searches have been presented together.
Findings: A total of 24 projects were identified covering four thematic areas where ICT has been
used to help monitor and improve quality of maternal and newborn healthcare: 1) data
management, which refers to the collection, transmission, and analysis of information; 2) point of
care support by assisting decision-making and diagnosis; 3) training and disseminating knowledge
to healthcare workers (e.g. latest research and guidelines); and 4) improving communication and
networking between healthcare workers and health facilities, patients or other healthcare workers