Intervention
death
EVENT, MISCARRIAGE
Participants were randomly assigned to receive the WelTel intervention in addition to standard care, or, to standard care only. Every Monday morning, an automated platform sent intervention group participants a text message “Mambo” (Swahili for “How are you?”) Participants were instructed to respond within 48 h of receiving the message either that they were well (“sawa” in Swahili for “okay”) or were having a problem (“shida” in Swahili for “difficulty”). Participants’ responses and instances of non-response were automatically registered in a digital platform.The WelTel platform automatically forwarded reported problems to a mobile phone at the participant’s local PMTCT clinic where they were followed up by a healthcare worker (peer mentor mother or nurse) who assisted the woman within 48 h. A study coordinator made a list of non-responses every week and delivered it (by paper or text message) to the relevant PMTCT clinic. A healthcare worker telephoned women who did not respond to determine the reason for not responding and to provide assistance if required. If the participant did not answer the call from the healthcare worker, a second call was not made, and the intervention resumed the following week. The weekly messages were sent up to 24 months after delivery, except in the event of a known miscarriage, stillbirth, infant death, maternal death, or participant withdrawal from the intervention, in which case the messages were discontinued.All participants received Option B+ PMTCT care