RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Self-enrolment antenatal health promotion data as an adjunct to maternal clinical information systems in the Western Cape Province of South Africa
JF BMJ Global Health
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
SP e000565
DO 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000565
VO 3
IS Suppl 2
A1 Alexa Heekes
A1 Nicki Tiffin
A1 Pierre Dane
A1 Themba Mutemaringa
A1 Mariette Smith
A1 Nesbert Zinyakatira
A1 Peter Barron
A1 Chris Seebregts
A1 Andrew Boulle
YR 2018
UL http://gh.bmj.com/content/3/Suppl_2/e000565.abstract
AB Information systems designed to support health promotion in pregnancy, such as the MomConnect programme, are potential sources of clinical information which can be used to identify pregnancies prospectively and early on. In this paper we demonstrate the feasibility and value of linking records collected through the MomConnect programme, to an emergent province-wide health information exchange in the Western Cape Province of South Africa, which already enumerates pregnancies from a range of other clinical data sources. MomConnect registrations were linked to pregnant women known to the public health services using the limited identifiers collected by MomConnect. Three-quarters of MomConnect registrations could be linked to existing pregnant women, decreasing over time as recording of the national identifier decreased. The MomConnect records were usually the first evidence of pregnancy in pregnancies which were subsequently confirmed by other sources. Those at lower risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes were more likely to register. In some cases, MomConnect was the only evidence of pregnancy for a patient. In addition, the MomConnect records provided gestational age information and new and more recently updated contact numbers to the existing contact registry. The pilot integration of the data in the Western Cape Province of South Africa demonstrates how a client-facing system can augment clinical information systems, especially in contexts where electronic medical records are not widely available.