The PartoPen: Working to Increase the Effectiveness of the Partograph

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Our colleagues at Maternova recently highlighted on their innovation index a new tool (that is currently in development) that aims to increase the effectiveness of the partograph. The PartoPen is being developed by University of Colorado-Boulder Ph.D candidate Heather Underwood.

According to Maternova’s innovation index:

Using an infrared camera, the pen takes picture of dots that are pre-printed on the paper that act as GPS coordinates for the pen. The pen provides real-time feedback for:

     · Decision support: Based on location of the pen on graph, the pen will provide next steps

     · Reminders: Auto-reminders of time and procedure

     · Error Checking: ex. Recording a temperature in F vs. C, pen recognizes the error

The digital partograph system provides real-time data feedback and reinforces birth attendant training, while retaining the paper-and-pen interface currently used by most healthcare workers. The system is currently being evaluated in Kenya.

This project received a $100,000 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grant to develop and implement the technology.

Learn more about this new tool from Maternova here.

More information:

Visit the PartoPen site.

Access several documents about the partograph in the MHTF Library. (Just enter “partograph” in the search box!)

Read a number of blog posts about the partograph on the MHTF Blog.