In Ethiopia’s Somali Region, maternal and neonatal mortality remain high—driven largely by barriers to timely antenatal care, limited access to diagnostic tools, and understaffed rural health centers. In response, Doctors with Africa CUAMM, in partnership with the Somali Regional Health Bureau and Delft Imaging, launched a BabyChecker pilot in October 2024 to assess the tool’s usability and impact on maternal health outcomes.
Speaking at the BabyChecker webinar “Frontline Perspectives on BabyChecker: Field Experience and Insights“, Riccardo Lazzaro, Health Coordinator at CUAMM Ethiopia, shared early findings from the study conducted at Dharwanaje Health Center in Harewa Woreda.
Strengthening risk detection with AI
“Innovative tools such as BabyChecker may empower frontline health workers to detect pregnancy risk early and improve antenatal care uptake,” explained Lazzaro.
Over nine months, 138 pregnant women were scanned using BabyChecker by trained midwives. The solution flagged:
- 29 cases of fetal malpresentation (21%)
- 25 cases of low-lying placenta (18%)
These findings enabled healthcare workers to initiate five referrals to higher-level care and follow up with 120 women at the health center. Despite minimal prior experience in ultrasound, the midwives demonstrated strong adoption of the solution:
- 65% of scans met the required quality standard
- Only 11 women needed rescanning
Some variation in individual scan performance highlighted the importance of ongoing training
A scalable opportunity
One of the pilot’s key findings was BabyChecker’s potential for widespread deployment. Since every rural community in Guatemala has a nursing assistant, scaling the use of BabyChecker could dramatically expand prenatal screening coverage.
“Most of the nurse assistants were able to perform good-quality scans with BabyChecker. Some still need to improve, which shows that follow-up is very important—even when you’re using a very easy-to-use technology.”
EHAS aims to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of BabyChecker and to integrate it into national protocols for perinatal care. This effort supports their broader mission of reducing maternal mortality through accessible, technology-enabled solutions. “We would like to scale with more BabyCheckers and to more nurse assistants—to increase coverage and decrease maternal mortality in Guatemala, which is still higher than the goals of the Sustainable Development Goals.”
“Most of the nurse assistants were able to perform good-quality scans with BabyChecker. Some still need to improve, which shows that follow-up is very important—even when you’re using a very easy-to-use technology.”
Riccardo Lazzaro
Boosting antenatal attendance
Beyond clinical diagnostics, the pilot also recorded a notable increase in antenatal care attendance:
- Average monthly visits rose from 280 to 338—a 20% increase
- First-trimester visits and late-stage (7th/8th) visits also showed measurable gains
“Antenatal care re-attendance increased more than anticipated,” said Lazzaro. “Scan quality was high despite minimal training, indicating rapid adoption and acceptability among midwives.”
Looking ahead
The pilot concluded that BabyChecker is a practical, user-friendly, and adaptable tool for strengthening antenatal care delivery in remote health settings. However, Lazzaro emphasized that the wider impact will depend on addressing cultural, logistical, and infrastructural barriers.
“Moving forward, expanding the use of similar technologies to additional rural health centers is critical to achieving wider reach and impact,” he concluded.
