At Lumumba Sub-County Hospital, one of the busiest public health facilities in Kisumu County, the corridors are alive with activity.
Children under five fill the waiting areas, mothers carry their newborns, and pregnant women wait patiently for their names to be called.
Among them is Ashley Atieno, 30, a resident of Kanyamedha and a mother of one, who is now expecting her second child.
But unlike her first pregnancy, Ashley says this time she has had a digital companion, the Jacaranda PROMPT app, helping her navigate her pregnancy journey.
“This pregnancy journey has been very comfortable. I cannot compare it with my previous one because of the errands and responsibilities I had. I would sometimes forget important appointments,” she says.
Ashley is among thousands of expectant mothers who have been enrolled on the digital platform, which is designed to help women keep track of their pregnancies, antenatal appointments and possible complications.
For Ashley, one of the most useful features is the appointment reminder.
“The app always reminds me of my next visit two days before. So I have been very prudent in attending all my ANC clinics.”
She says the reminders have helped her get to the facility on time and avoid missing crucial antenatal visits.
“Everything I need to know is just a touch of a button.”
The app, she says, has also helped her understand what to look out for during pregnancy and when she should seek medical attention.
But Ashley’s experience is only one side of the story.
Diana Ambugwi, 27, a resident of Kibos on the outskirts of Kisumu city, is also expecting her second child.
Her pregnancy, however, has been far more complicated.
Diana has experienced persistent bloating and discomfort. Having delivered her first child through Caesarean section, doctors have advised her to remain on bed rest as she continues with this pregnancy.
“I have been able to keep track of my condition using the app. It has also helped me keep my mental health in check.”
“At night, the app has been my partner because I hardly sleep. It has helped me manage my condition through nutrition advice and even guidance on the best positions to sleep in.”
With her condition linked to potential pre-eclampsia, Diana says having information at her fingertips has helped her recognise warning signs and understand when she needs to seek medical attention.
But the digital journey has not been entirely smooth.
Diana says there are moments when responses or information on the platform are delayed, leaving her anxious, particularly when she is experiencing discomfort..
Further into the informal settlement of Manyatta lies Kuoyo Health Centre, a Level 3 health facility serving one of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in Kisumu East.
The facility records one of the highest numbers of births in the county and a high prevalence of teenage mothers, making its maternity wing a critical point of care for young and first-time mothers in the community.
Among them is 22-year-old Doreen Achieng, a first-time mother, cuddling her one-month-old daughter.
New to motherhood, Doreen says she had no previous experience caring for a child. Her parents live in Migori, while her in-laws are in a rural area, leaving her with limited immediate family support.
She says the pregnancy app became an important source of guidance from the moment she discovered she was pregnant.
At her first visit to the health centre, she was introduced to the app and remained engaged with it throughout her pregnancy and even after giving birth.
She says the app has guided her on nutrition, self-care, breastfeeding and newborn care. Even after delivery, she continued receiving information, including questions about her baby’s weight.
“I have never raised a child before, so it has helped me by giving me guidelines on how to take care of the child.”
She says she has learned how to breastfeed her daughter, recognise when the baby is full, bathe her safely, care for the umbilical cord and position the baby correctly.
“Everything I need, I refer to the app,” she says.
Irene, 24, is also a first-time mother. She has brought her three-month-old baby to the health centre for vaccination.
Irene moved from another county to live with the father of her child. While she describes her pregnancy as having been smooth, she says life has become increasingly difficult as her husband struggles to provide for the family.
Unlike Doreen, Irene does not own a smartphone but says this has not completely shut her out of the digital health service.
The platform also provides access through USSD, allowing women without smartphones to receive maternal and child health information.
“The app is not only limited to smartphones. I can still access information.”
But there is a catch. Irene does not own the phone herself. Her husband does.
But shared-phone ownership presents another challenge, one that the Kuoyo Health Centre administrator acknowledges as a significant gap for some women.
She says relying on a partner’s phone can compromise privacy, particularly when women need to access or disclose sensitive information about their health.
This is especially important in a region that continues to face a significant HIV burden, where confidentiality can influence whether women feel safe seeking information, disclosing their status and accessing treatment.
Kuoyo health administrator Irene Macodros says some women may feel more comfortable turning to the app for sensitive information than speaking directly to a health provider, particularly where they fear that disclosure could expose their HIV status to others.
The facility has been working closely with Millicent Waka a Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) to follow up with women who fail to attend their scheduled clinic visits.
“This has helped in traceability and accountability of the women who often miss their clinics.”
The administrator says the approach has also been strengthened by women themselves.
Pregnant women who previously relied on Nyamrerwa, a traditional birth attendant, are increasingly being encouraged to register at the health facility and use the digital platform for maternal health information.
The message is spreading through women’s community groups, including chamas and merry-go-rounds, while CHVs continue to play a key role in reaching women who may otherwise remain outside the formal health system.
The administrator says these combined interventions have contributed to a significant increase in the number of women accessing maternity services at the facility.
“From these interventions, we have recorded an upsurge of clients to almost 100 percent. In just one year, we have at least 700 women actively using the app and seeking maternity services, up from about 400 in previous years. The numbers are not lying.”
Deep in Angola, a peri-urban area of Kisumu, 17-year-old Violet Achieng is seven months pregnant and attending her antenatal clinic at Angola Health Centre.
A Form Three student at Awasi Girls Secondary School, Violet says her pregnancy forced her to leave her parents’ home and move in with her aunt after she became the target of stigma.
“I had to flee home. It was unbearable.”
Now, as she prepares to become a mother, Violet says the pregnancy app has become an important source of information, helping her navigate the journey and understand what to expect when she goes into labour.
She says the information has helped her prepare for delivery and understand the changes taking place in her body.
But despite the reassurance, she still has fears about childbirth.
“My only worry is that my pelvic muscles are not fully developed in case of complications.”
For Violet, motherhood has not meant giving up on her education. Once she delivers, she plans to return to school and register to sit her examinations next year.
At the same facility, the app is also being used beyond pregnancy and delivery.
Minah Akelo Juma, 33, has brought her three-year-old son to the health facility. She registered on the platform last year and says it has helped her keep track of her son’s growth and developmental milestones.
“This has enabled me to keep checking his growth milestones.”
The platform is designed to accompany mothers from conception through the first five years of a child’s life, allowing them to document progress, monitor developmental milestones and identify anything that appears out of the ordinary.
At Angola Health Centre, administrator Innie Anyango says the platform has also helped health workers engage couples around issues requiring early attention.
She says the platform has helped mothers understand Rhesus factor incompatibility and the importance of early screening and intervention during pregnancy.
Anyango says the information has enabled health workers to engage couples earlier and encourage appropriate follow-up where necessary.
She adds that early identification of health concerns can allow for timely intervention, although conditions such as sickle cell disease are hereditary and require appropriate clinical testing and management.
Olivia Okwaro, who is an IT Specialist at Wanda Health, operates a web-based electronic health records (EHR) system that uses artificial intelligence to assess maternal and neonatal health risks.
“The system uses colour-coded alerts, including yellow for warning signs and red for more serious abnormalities. Alerts are also shared through WhatsApp groups involving healthcare providers in the relevant region, helping teams identify and respond to high-risk cases”, she says.
The initiative was initially piloted at Kisumu County Referral Hospital and Railways Health Centre before expanding to facilities selected using health data.
It currently operates in 44 facilities in Kisumu County, mainly public facilities, and plans to expand in partnership with the county government.
The system works alongside other digital health platforms, including Jacaranda Help, which sends maternal health messages through SMS, and KenyaEMR
However, she admits that internet connectivity remains a challenge; delays in transmitting information can affect how quickly alerts reach healthcare workers.
Beyond improving maternal and neonatal healthcare through artificial intelligence, Wanda Health is also looking at ways to make digital maternal health services more accessible to expectant mothers living with disabilities, particularly those with hearing and visual impairments.
According to Kisumu County Executive Committee Member for Health, Dr. Gregory Ganda, since its introduction in 2025, digital pregnancy risk assessment has contributed to a decline in perinatal deaths across eight health facilities in Kolwa East Ward, from 15 in 2024 to eight in 2025.
Dr. Ganda said the Wonder electronic health record system screened 1,735 pregnancies in the eight facilities in 2025, flagging 575 cases for further clinical review.
The model has since been extended to Kisumu East Sub-County, where 5,408 pregnancies were screened in 2025, with 1,039 flagged for clinical review.
The county is now working to roll out the approach across all 35 wards as it seeks to strengthen the early detection of pregnancy complications and ensure expectant mothers receive timely and appropriate care.
