The Abia State Government has introduced a digital pregnancy tracking application, CyTracker, to identify and monitor high risk pregnancies as part of renewed efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality in the state.
The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Uche Enoch, disclosed this during the post-exco briefing, explaining that the initiative is designed to identify women and teenagers who are particularly vulnerable to complications during pregnancy and ensure that they receive timely antenatal and delivery care.
“We are looking at comprehensive measures to eliminate maternal mortality. Apart from ensuring that we have hospitals that are well-equipped and well staffed, we’re also looking at the drivers of maternal mortality and how to nip them in the bud,” he said.
According to him, the initiative particularly targets high risk groups, including pregnant teenagers, women who do not attend antenatal care at approved health facilities and expectant mothers who rely on unskilled traditional birth attendants.
“We know that teenagers who get pregnant are a high risk group. We also know that those who have unsupervised pregnancy, that is to say pregnancy without antenatal care in an approved registered health facility, are high-risk groups.
“Those who go to deliver with traditional birth attendants, those who are not delivered by skilled birth attendants, are also high-risk groups,” he noted.
Prof. Enoch explained that CyTracker collects basic information such as a pregnant woman’s name, age and last menstrual period. The data enables health officials to identify teenagers, calculate expected dates of delivery and determine when women are due for antenatal appointments.
“What the app does is that there are certain demographic variables. For instance, your name, your age, your last menstrual period, and from those data we are able to, of course, identify who is a teenager. And then we’ll be able to find out even your expected date of delivery from the last menstrual period.”
The application also allows health workers to send reminders to pregnant women ahead of their antenatal appointments. Where a pregnant woman does not have a phone, a responsible adult, such as a parent or guardian, can be linked to the system to ensure that she receives the necessary information and encouragement to attend her appointments.
“Two days to antenatal care, it tells you that you should come for antenatal. Or sends it to that person if you don’t have a phone. That guardian, the person will come and alert you,” he said.
He said health workers can intervene when a high risk pregnant woman fails to appear for scheduled antenatal care and, where necessary, visit the woman to ascertain her condition.
“When they don’t come, we go to see how they are doing. And when it is time for delivery, this app helps us to know that the time for delivery has arrived. So we go and pick them,” Enoch said.
The Commissioner disclosed that the application has already been used to monitor teenage pregnancies and support successful deliveries at health facilities.
“There have been cases of teenage pregnancies that were successfully delivered at the federal medical center Umuahia through this app,” he said.
He explained that the system also helps health workers monitor women as they approach their expected delivery dates, enabling them to intervene promptly and arrange for appropriate care where complications arise.
“We make sure that they don’t go into prolonged labour. Once labour ensues and they’re not progressing, we trigger cesarean delivery,” he added.
Prof. Enoch stressed that the initiative complements the state’s health insurance programme, under which pregnant women registered with the scheme are entitled to free maternal healthcare services.
He noted that, through the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and the state’s health insurance arrangements, registered pregnant women can access free antenatal care and delivery services, including Caesarean sections where medically required.
“All pregnant women in this state are entitled to free maternal services and free delivery, up to cesarean delivery,” he said.
The Commissioner therefore urged pregnant women across the state to register for health insurance, stressing that registration would remove financial barriers and make it easier for women to access care when needed.
“No pregnant woman should stay away from registering for health insurance. Because once you do that, it makes life easy for everyone,” Enoch said.
He said the CyTracker initiative goes a step further by ensuring that high risk pregnancies are identified early rather than waiting until complications develop.
The Commissioner described the application as an Abia-developed solution designed to respond to the state’s peculiar maternal health challenges.
“So this app is Abia-born. And it is answering to our peculiar circumstances,” he said.
Meanwhile, the state’s health insurance enrolment has continued to increase, with the number of enrollees rising from about 233,000 to 237,000 between July 27 and August 7, 2026.
The government also disclosed that some communities and groups have expressed interest in partnering with the state to provide health insurance coverage for indigent residents, particularly those in the informal sector.
With the introduction of CyTracker, expanded health insurance coverage, the continued functionalisation of PHCs and the planned recruitment of additional medical personnel, the state government says it is strengthening its preventive and responsive approach to maternal healthcare while ensuring that vulnerable residents have greater access to essential health services.
(The Whistler)