Grace's Story
From an early age, Grace Kimenju started noticing health inequities. In school, she witnessed girls being bullied for the simple reason of starting their periods. Later in early adulthood, she noticed how some women were treated at the hands of health care providers, and how health systems were ill-equipped to cater for women’s needs. It led to questions. But mostly, it sparked a passion; to ensure women everywhere have timely access to quality care when and where they need it.
Now, as Senior Program Coordinator for Jacaranda’s AI-enabled digital health platform, PROMPTS, she helps connect new and expectant mothers to timely, quality care across fifteen counties in Kenya by evaluating the impact of the SMS content, and heading expansion to new counties. Like the rest of the team, positive feedback from mums motivates her day-to-day work, with news of successful deliveries, healthy newborns, and danger signs averted a constant reminder of the life-saving support that PROMPTS offers.
Yet it was only when Grace herself fell pregnant for the first time that she realized - firsthand - the full scope of its impact. Enrolling onto the platform in her first trimester, she immediately began to receive gestation-specific tips that, despite her expertise in the platform, came as completely new to her. ‘You think you know a lot until you yourself become pregnant, and then everything you know disappears.’ She explains with a smile. ‘The messages always offer something I didn’t know already - and I act on them straight away’.
The messages helped Grace ascertain what was normal, and what could lead to complications throughout her pregnancy. One message asked her if she had felt her baby kicking, explaining that women were likely to feel their baby move at around the twenty-four week mark. ‘Up to this point, I hadn’t felt my baby moving’, shares Grace. ‘The message prompted me to head to the hospital for a scan to check.’ The baby was fine - but to Grace, it was reassuring to have checked.
The messages are carefully curated based on rigorous testing and research, and the content is wide-ranging. Grace - who usually sleeps on her back - received an SMS advising her to sleep on one side to help with blood flow. ‘It hit me only then that I could be denying my baby enough oxygen’, she explains. ‘So I became very intentional about the correct sleeping position’.
Alongside offering a two-way platform for mums to ask questions, PROMPTS sends out ‘nudge’ messages with reminders for appointments and timely information at specific stages of pregnancy and postpartum. ‘The milestone messages are really good.’ Grace explains. ‘When my baby was born, I was reminded by PROMPTS that babies love hearing voices, so I started singing to her and reading her bedtime stories.’ Other messages help mothers craft simple toys for the baby using cheap materials you would find around the home. ‘You realize you can save yourself time and money by using resources you already have at your fingertips’.
Through PROMPTS, health system managers are also able to track ‘hotspots’ for preventive and promotive services, such as tracking facilities where women report babies not receiving immunizations. ‘The surveys shared by Jacaranda on immunizations were so helpful.’ Says Grace. ‘Not only do they remind you of the names of the vaccines needed, but also check up if your baby received them - with a follow-up message reading “you’re doing great mama.” These small affirmations make such a big difference in these first few weeks postpartum, when you’re often having long days and sleepless nights.’
Throughout her pregnancy and after birth, Grace has found it rewarding to see the messages she supported in composing, editing, and translating having a measurable impact on mothers across the country. ‘Being in the business of saving lives has been a privilege for me.’ Grace explains. ‘However, until I became the recipient of our messages, I did not really know how important this work is changing, and saving, lives. I am so proud to be part of this great team.’