Vodacom rolls out ‘Mum and Baby’ healthcare

NEO SENOKO 

MASERU – Vodacom Lesotho, a leading telecommunications connectivity, digital and financial services company, in partnership with Mondia, a private m-commerce company, has announced the rollout of the Mum and Baby maternal health service across the country.

Mondia, which claims to be a global leader in m-commerce providing access to over 1.5 billion consumers worldwide, says it’s dedicated to connecting, digitising and monetising mobile consumers.

“Mum and Baby is our flagship health and wellness brand focusing on motherhood. We are proud of the way in which it contributes to our vision of building communities, bringing health solutions to more lives and promoting good health outcomes.

“We have seen this in Lesotho where the indomitable Basotho spirit has come to the fore, as people find creative ways to stay connected, support each other and express themselves. We see our digital services connecting the people of Lesotho to the world wherever they are via Lesotho’s Blanket Network Coverage,” said Tšepo Thabisi, Vodacom’s EHOD: Consumer Business and Customer Value.

‘Mum and Baby’ is a freemium mobile health intervention that provides Vodacom subscribers with maternal, neonatal and child health information designed to encourage good health practices amongst pregnant women, mothers, partners and caregivers.   On Tuesday this week, the leading telecommunications company announced that it has collaborated with Mondia to create ‘Mum and Baby’s tailored content, which includes videos, expert articles and information sharing SMS messages.

‘Mum and Baby’ also provides interactive tools including a due date calculator, an immunisation calendar, a medication reminder and medicine safety information. The service, which is available in both English and Sesotho, also includes a rewards component through which subscribers can earn vouchers, music and lullabies. The ‘Mum and Baby’ service further provides positive socio-economic benefit in the geographies in which it operates.

In a KPMG survey conducted in order to understand the impact of the Mum and Baby service, Vodacom revealed that over 95 percent of respondents reported that they found the SMS messages received useful or very useful for learning new information about their children’s health and wellbeing.  About 98 percent of respondents agreed that they had taken action to improve their child’s health as a result of information provided through the ‘Mum and Baby’ service.   Again, 98 percent of pregnant women and mothers surveyed agreed that they had taken action to improve their own health because of the information provided through the ‘Mum and Baby’ service.

“The value of this partnership is now more critical than ever, with Lesotho’s infant mortality rate, which is one of the highest in the world, having been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in people avoiding medical services for fear of exposure to the virus. As a result, initiatives that put the power of good health directly in people’s hands remain immeasurably important. Mum and Baby provides a free, convenient way of accessing instant, expert advice where it is most needed,” added the Chief Executive Officer of Mondia, Dr Amadeo Rahmann.  The ‘Mum and Baby’ initiative was launched in South Africa in 2017 and had almost two million registered subscribers as of August 2021.