Uganda moves to connect antenatal care, birth and death records in digital health transformation

What the report says

In Mukono District, Uganda is testing a digital antenatal care registry that is changing how midwives record pregnancies, track missed visits and follow up patients. The Independent Uganda reports that the system, known as an eRegistry, is being used to move maternal health records away from scattered paper files and toward a more continuous digital record.

The project is part of the eReg4ANC initiative and is built on the DHIS2 Tracker platform, with support from researchers at Makerere University School of Public Health, district health workers and the Ministry of Health. According to the report, the registry can store details across multiple antenatal visits, generate routine reports, send SMS reminders and flag risk factors that need attention. One midwife cited in the story said the tool has helped identify mothers who miss appointments and reduced repeated data entry.

The magazine report says researchers now want to extend the system beyond antenatal care to include birth outcomes as well as maternal and perinatal deaths. That expansion is meant to help Uganda address fragmented records and strengthen links between health services and civil registration. The article notes that the project had enrolled 31,917 pregnant women and recorded more than 50,000 revisits at the time of reporting.

The story also highlights practical challenges that remain, including too few tablets in some facilities, unreliable electricity and internet access, and the need for continued training. The broader significance, as presented by The Independent Uganda, is that better digital records could improve continuity of care, reporting and planning in a health system where women may attend several facilities during one pregnancy.