Towards sustainable mHealth applications for maternal and child health: The case of Sahabat Bundaku - an integrated mobile application for mothers and midwives

Developing countries such as Indonesia are faced with the paradox of lagging health indicators and uneven distribution of healthcare resources amidst impressive rise in mobile communications coverage. This opens up the opportunity for mHealth- the application of mobile technology for healthcare - to contribute in improving healthcare by helping alleviate the uneven distribution of resources as well as facilitating more efficient healthcare education and delivery. However, while there are many successful examples of mHealth for community health, many mHealth projects are still plagued by sustainability and scalability issues. This paper describes the development of Sahabat Bundaku (My Mother's Best Friend), a mobile and web application that connects parents and midwives throughout the process of pregnancy and the growth of children from the womb until the child is five years old. The app provides a vehicle for the dissemination of relevant healthcare related information and education, early detection of potential problems, patient management system including reminder for important events, as well as data integration between healthcare providers and mothers. Importantly, the application is designed with extensive involvement of potential stakeholders and users to plan for both operational and financial sustainability, as well as within country dissemination.