Interactive Voice Response (IVR)–Based Health Information for Antenatal and Postnatal Care Services in Rural Bangladesh

Interactive Voice Response (IVR)–Based Health Information for Antenatal and Postnatal Care Services in Rural Bangladesh

Theme: Health

Project Background:

Bangladesh has made notable progress in maternal and child health, yet maternal mortality remains high at around 176 deaths per 100,000 live births, and neonatal mortality at 30 deaths per 1,000 live births, accounting for roughly two-thirds of under-five deaths. The risk of death in the first month of life is nearly four times higher than in the subsequent 11 months, highlighting the importance of high-quality care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the immediate postnatal period.​

Rural women face multiple barriers to safe motherhood, including limited availability and quality of services, low health literacy, restrictive gender norms, stigma, and cultural beliefs around pregnancy. Disparities between rural and urban areas and between wealthy groups lead to higher mortality among children in the poorest households. COVID-19 has further disrupted maternal and child health services, including immunization, and may have caused hundreds of thousands of additional maternal and child deaths in South Asia. Traditional channels for health information—radio, television, and the internet—are constrained in rural Bangladesh, whereas about 94 percent of rural households own at least a basic mobile phone. This project responds by using IVR and a toll-free call centre to deliver stage-specific, evidence-based maternal and newborn health information directly to women’s phones.

Project areas

• 220 rural villages across Bangladesh, selected with support from a local partner experienced in IVR-based interventions.​

• Pregnant women and mothers of newborns (up to six months postpartum) living in these villages, many of whom have limited access to quality health information and services.​

• Primary health care context where national guidelines exist but awareness and uptake remain low, particularly in remote, low-income settings.

Project Authority:

        Lead academic institution:

·       Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES), Monash University (Principal Investigator: Professor Asad Islam).​

Co-investigators:

• Firoz Ahmed, Associate Professor, Khulna University, Bangladesh.

• Tabassum Rahman, School of Public Health, University of Newcastle.​

Local implementation partner:

·       Bangladeshi organization with IVR experience (with scope for GDRI to serve as field research partner for listing, surveys, and monitoring).

Donors:

• Primary funder (proposed): Laerdal Foundation for Acute Medicine, supporting IVR module development, call‑center operations, field surveys, and project staff.​

• In-kind support: CDES, Monash University, providing academic leadership, administrative backing, and contingency support.

Roles of GDRI:

Field Implementation and Community Engagement:

• Support listing and recruitment of pregnant women and mothers of newborns in selected villages.

• Coordinate with village leaders, health workers, and the IVR partner to facilitate enrolment and sustained participation.

Data Collection and Monitoring:

• Conduct baseline and endline surveys and support the measurement of health service use, knowledge, and outcomes.​

• Monitor IVR usage, SMS delivery, and call‑center interactions in collaboration with the technical partner.

Data Management and Dissemination:

• Ensure high-quality data entry, cleaning, and secure storage, and share cleaned datasets with the academic team.

• Contribute to analysis and co-author reports, briefs, and presentations for government, NGOs, and donors on IVR-based maternal health interventions.