Influence of Smartphone Application Reminder Service on Postpartum Contraception among Postpartum Women in Kitui County, Kenya DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajhs.v38i1.7

Abstract

Background: Low uptake of postpartum contraception remains a significant public health concern, contributing to the rising incidence of unintended pregnancies among postpartum women. This study aimed to establish the influence of smartphone application reminder service on postpartum contraception uptake among postpartum women in Kitui County, Kenya.

Methodology: A quasi-experimental study was conducted among 228 eligible participants drawn from two major referral health facilities (Kitui County Referral and Mwingi Central Sub-County Hospitals), which were purposively sampled. Trained interviewers conducted baseline and six-week postpartum interviews with eligible participants, who were recruited through systematic random sampling. The groups were dichotomised into an intervention group, which received the smartphone application (app) reminder and the control group, which did not receive the app reminder. The intervention was a smartphone application with an audio alert in the background, accompanied by a message three days a week. Informed consent and approvals were obtained before the commencement of the data collection process, which was achieved by the use of semi-structured questionnaires. Data were analysed using SPSS version 29. Inferential statistics included chi-square tests and logistic regression, while the Difference-in-Differences (DiD) method was employed to assess the impact of the intervention.

Results: Postpartum women with the smartphone app reminder utilised postpartum contraception more (49.1%) compared to those who did not have the reminder (6.1%). Smartphone app reminders increased the likelihood of using postpartum family planning by 8.23 times (OR: 8.23; P=0.000; CI: 14.22-102.41). Conclusion and

Recommendations: Smartphone app reminders significantly enhanced the uptake of postpartum contraception among postpartum women. We recommend that smartphone reminders be incorporated into the postpartum care package. The County government should strengthen postpartum contraception and boost capacity at the grassroots to enhance postpartum contraception through smartphone reminder services.