Design and prototype of an IoT Based monitoring system for expectant Rural women in developing countries

Abstract

Maternal and child deaths due to pregnancy related complications are still a huge concern and more prevalent in developing countries. Early detection of complications can help avoid many of the reported cases. Due to factors like long distances to nearby health facilities, lack of knowledge and poverty, majority of expectant mothers in rural developing nations are still adamant in prioritizing their health during this very sensitive period. This thesis research project was aimed at designing and prototyping a system intended to help reduce and improve maternal health in rural areas of developing nations by providing a rather easy way to monitor the health of expectant mothers remotely and to also provides vital information in form of periodic tips with automatic alerts and tracking in case of missed clinical appointments. A survey was conducted so as to investigate the capabilities of the existing systems, identify the challenges with the systems and find out the awareness and readiness integration of internet of things in pregnancy monitoring. For data collection questionnaires were selectively distributed to expectant mothers and health facility officers. Selected health system managers were interviewed and existing documentation analyzed. From the analysis of collected data, the results show that current systems are ineffective and there is a need for Internet of things-based solutions. An architecture for context awareness and an IoT based system are therefore proposed so as to improve pregnancy monitoring in Africa and thus a reduction in fatalities and complications. The system uses a pulse sensor, temperature sensor and GPS module to collect data with an Arduino as the microcontroller. The collected data is then sent to the cloud using GSM module. From the cloud data is stored, processed and analyzed then sent to the health worker. In case of any health complication or an appointment is missed the health officials are alerted on real-time. The use of this system will ensure a timely response in case of an emergency thus lead to better health and a contribution towards the sustainable development goals.