It has been shown that proper prenatal controls (5 or more during pregnancy) and timely (first control within the first 13 weeks of gestation) reduce maternal and infant mortality.

In Argentina more than 30% of women do not comply with prenatal check-ups and almost 1 in 10 have their first contact with the health system at the time of birth.

Crecer con Salud is a virtual assistant (bot) based on Facebook Messenger that works outside the health system, identifying and recruiting pregnant women where they are. The bot is designed to chat and accompany women during their pregnancy and the baby's first year with personalized information and reminders of attendance to pre and post natal check-ups.

Simple access and easily scalable (does not require geographic adaptation or additional cost) bridge's accessibility to health services for a population that is away from it.

https://www.argentina.gob.ar/chatcrecerwebby

• Argentina

• Women
• New born
• Pregnant women
• pregnant women and babies under 1 year old

We are building a 1 to 1 relationship with pregnant women, accompanying them and bringing them closer to the health system. We seek through behavioral insights to stimulate attendance at prenatal check-ups, be closer, useful, get out of the logic of calling your attention if you did not go to the doctor.

It is the first time that the Government uses a digital tool to try to reduce maternal and infant mortality, "Crecer con Salud" works outside the health system, identifying and recruiting pregnant women where they are, using a social network as a channel.

Crecer con Salud require's minimal geographic and cultural adaptation, making this tool easy to replicate in other regions.

The project sustainability is based on the adoption of the bot by the Ministry of Health and Social Development of Argentina for the creation and update of content in the long term.

We empower women with access to information and services. We chose the communication channel for the Bot thinking about the needs of women in Argentina, looking for a simple, direct and easy way to interact. Argentina has 40 million mobile phone lines of which 70% are prepaid, which showed a low predisposition to send text messages due to the cost to the user. Our research in maternity hospitals and interviews with pregnant women revealed that 90% used facebook and whatsapp on their mobile phones. This result led us to think and develop the bot based on Facebook Messenger, given that more than 30 million users are Argentines.