Impact of mHealth Education on Hemoglobin Level Among Pregnant Women With Anemia in Rural Bangladesh.

Anemia in pregnancy can result in negative pregnancy outcomes, which are higher among pregnant women of rural Bangladesh. A cost-effective health education program is urgently needed to introduce, which will help to improve their hemoglobin level by changing their lifestyle. In many rural settings, mobile-based health (mHealth) education programs have been shown to improve hemoglobin levels effectively during the antenatal period. So, we aim to assess the impact of a mHealth education program on improving hemoglobin levels among anemic pregnant women of rural Bangladesh.

The study will be carried out in the rural settings of a district of Bangladesh named Chandpur. This study timeline is from December 2025 to May 2026.

After this survey, a randomized controlled trial study will be conducted where 160 pregnant women who are diagnosed with mild and moderate anemia will be offered to participate. Pregnant women who will give informed consent will be randomly assigned to two arms: intervention and control. Every arm will have an equal number of anemic pregnant women. Pregnant women in the intervention arm will receive anemia management-related health education through mobile messages and calls. This intervention program will educate pregnant women about the causes, risks, and symptoms of anemia, with the prevention strategies like dietary improvement, supplementation, parasitic disease control, safe motherhood, family planning, and iron-rich food production. Additionally, they will get regular care, a booklet and reminders of ANC visits during the study period. In contrast, the pregnant women of the control arm will receive regular care during this period, but after the end-line assessment, they will also get the booklet. After 4 months of the intervention program, the end-line assessment will be done, where the hemoglobin, nutritional status, and literacy about anemia will be assessed. Multiple comparisons will be performed by two-way analysis of variance tests for the evaluation of the outcome variables. Additionally, a Generalized Estimating Equations (GEE) model will be used to analyze the effect of the mHealth education program on related factors. A p-value less than 0.5 will be considered significant in this study.

If this mHealth-based education program shows improvement in hemoglobin level, this can be utilized in low-resource settings widely to ensure safe pregnancy outcomes in the future.