Success Lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio with WONDER - In-hospital Statistics Reduced 50-95%

Published: Fri, 04/30/21

Digitized Maternal Early Warning and Response Telehealth System
DOI: https://doi.org/10.30953/tmt.v6.251
Telehealth and Medicine Today Gold Open Access Journal

By 2030, meeting the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in every country to below 70 per 100,000 live births is a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target. This requires significant progress in low-and-middle-income countries given 94% of global maternal deaths occur in these countries.

A solution to meet this goal is The Women’s Obstetrical Neonatal Death and Reduction (WONDER) Telehealth System and can reduce mortality and morbidity rates in resource-limited environments by early identification of risk indicators and initiation of care.

The WONDER system consists of a cloud-based electronic health record with a Clinical Decision Support tool and a color-coded alert system. The Clinical Decision Support tool is based upon Maternal Early Warning Signs and provides real-time assistance to caregivers via relevant national treatment guidelines. This system uses inexpensive computing hardware, displays, and cell-phone technology. This system was tested in a 2-year pilot study in India. A total of 15,184 patients were monitored during labor and the postpartum period.

Results include the incidence of in-hospital eclampsia reduced by 91.7%, and in 95% of cases, timely treatment was started within an hour of identifying the abnormality in vital signs. Maternal mortality was reduced by 50.1% over local benchmark figures.
To obtain details visit DOI: https://doi.org/10.30953/tmt.v6.251

Authors

• Narmadha Kuppuswami, Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, USA
• Suresh Subramanian, Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, USA
• Karenna J. Groff, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Biological Engineering, USA
• Radha Rani Ravichandran, WONDER Clinical Coordinator, Erode, India

For more articles in this TMT Special Issue featuring the 16th Annual Telemedicine Society of India (TSI), demonstrating how pursuing scientific research across boarders can speed solutions, enhance and impact community, equity & inclusion to benefit citizens, researchers & clinicians worldwide, go to:
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April TMT BLOG post: "Telehealth Strategic Imperatives for Meeting Lifelong Consumer Trust and Care"

Adopting virtual care has empowered health systems to move beyond silos to a comprehensive whole-person approach to patient care. This opens strategic opportunities in the virtual care market for innovators, digital health stakeholders and health systems to claim a stake in the “consumer circle of trust,” meeting consumer expectations where quality care can be delivered virtually too. For more please visit:
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Image: Mother and Child by Gustav Klimt