Christine Musyimi of Africa Mental Health Foundation in Kenya will engage Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in rural Kenya to provide psycho-social interventions to mothers during the perinatal period and refer complicated cases of depression to health facilities. This approach aims to ensure accessible and acceptable basic mental health care in under-resourced areas while linking these mothers to primary health care to ensure safe deliveries and promote their mental well-being and that of the baby even after birth. TBAs were selected for this project as they are an important resource for reducing gaps related to the scarcity of mental health professionals and demanding workloads due to the high number of patients in primary health care settings as well as due to their accessibility and affordability, thereby promoting a sense of belonging to the TBAs.

Dahabo Adi Galgallo of the Kenya Field Epidemology and Laboratory Training Programme (FELTP) in Kenya, will develop a waterproof, coin-sized, solar-powered GPS-tracking device that will be fitted into cultural jewelry of expectant mothers in pastoralist and nomadic communities so health workers can easily locate and provide them with pre- and antenatal care where they are. Integrated maternal mobile health delivered to pastoralist women will decrease maternal mortality, infant mortality and improve vaccination coverage, which will improve infant survival in this population because women can easily be traced and care given. They will identify expectant women in Marsabit county and immunize them against tetanus, conduct laboratory profiling to detect any diseases for early intervention and provide continuous antenatal care from the duration of the pregnancy to birth and then immunization of newborns up to 12-month in tandem with continuous health education.

Jesse Gitaka of Mount Kenya University in Kenya will lead the development and deployment of a point-of-care diagnostic for bacterial infections that have been implicated in poor pregnancy outcomes such as premature deliveries, still births, maternal and newborn sepsis and deaths. Their project will enable quick detection of these bacteria allowing for prompt treatment. They will test whether treating for these bacterial infections, which are usually not diagnosed, improves pregnancy outcomes in field situations. This strategy has the potential to inform pregnancy monitoring and follow up practice and policy.