Scaling up is recommended, but requires training and investment
A project to provide ultrasound scans to pregnant women in rural Kenya increased the number of women seeking antenatal care and demonstrated the feasibility of providing ultrasounds in community health facilities in resource- poor settings. The World Health Organization recommends pregnant women receive an ultrasound within 24 weeks of gestation as part of routine antenatal care to allow accurate determination of gestational age and detect multiple pregnancies and fetal anomalies
Known as Mimba Yangu (or My Pregnancy), the project was funded by the Philips Foundation and conducted by the AKU Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health in three rural communities of Kilifi County where AKU has been working for years: Kaloleni, Ganze and Rabai. Fourteen government health care facilities received portable ultrasound machines, which AKU faculty trained nurses and midwives to use. Nearly 300 nurses, midwives and community health volunteers were also given a mobile-phone application for recording health data on pregnant women during visits to their homes.
More than 3,000 women were invited to the study and received an ultrasound scan, most of them before 24 weeks. Gestational age was determined and multiple pregnancies were detected, leading to referrals to higher-level health facilities.
The project was carried out in close collaboration with Kilifi County Government, sub-county government and the Philips Foundation. AKU researchers have partnered with government officials in the area on numerous projects in recent years. For example, they have been collecting and analyzing health and demographic information on more than 75,000 people in Kilifi County since 2017, in partnership with sub-county health officials.