Potential effects of Whatsapp on maternal health services uptake during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study in Ghana

BackgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic period Health Care Practitioners (HCPs) were seen to facilitate healthcare delivery by using their mobile phones also known as "informal mHealth", especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). WhatsApp has become popular in recent years with over 380 million users. It has therefore been identified that the effective use of WhatsApp by HCP for health could positively impact it. This study aims to assess the potential effect of the use of WhatsApp by HCPs on Maternal Health Services (MHS) uptake during the COVID-19 pandemic in four primary healthcare facilities in the Kwadaso Municipality of Ghana.MethodsA cross-sectional study design was adopted using a quantitative approach involving a census sampling technique to collect data on monthly Maternal Health Services (MHS) attendance from the District Health Information Management Systems (DHIMS 2). Data collection was for the period March 2019 to February 2020 and March 2020 to February 2021.ResultsDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the introduction of WhatsApp as a mHealth intervention helped improve maternal health case management and patient confidence. This led to a 5.64% (p=0.02) increase in ANC attendance and a 5.62% (p=0.02) rise in health facility deliveries. However, although PNC service attendance dropped slightly (7.06%, p=0.95), it was not statistically significant. Overall, key maternal health indicators showed significant improvements from 2019 to 2021 COVID-19 period.ConclusionWhatsApp usage by HCPs for a positive and timely patient management showed an increased attendance for ANC and delivery services in Ghana during the COVID-19 pandemic. This reveals that the use of WhatsApp for maternal health services referrals can be used as a communication tool for the management of high-risk obstetric referrals also.