Bwari Area Council, Federal Capital Territory
From awareness to access.
MAMA-LINK, the Maternal Access, Mapping, Accountability and Linkage Initiative, works with pregnant women who may otherwise struggle to reach maternal care. It links each woman to services at her primary health care centre, then follows her until the programme can verify that she received the care she needed.
Sign-in is for authorised programme staff only.
- Proof of concept
- 45days
- Follow-up for each woman
- 30days
- Follow-up points
- 4
The first cohort
60 pregnant women
Gbazango PHC
Kubwa · 30 women
Sabon Gari PHC
Bwari · 30 women
Each woman is accounted for at every stage, from enrolment to a verified outcome.
The problem and the approach
A woman should not be lost between one step and the next.
Maternal-health services exist, but a pregnant woman can still fall away before she reaches them. Any one of these can stop her between being told where to go and getting there:
- Cost
- Transport
- Distance
- Lack of information
- Household decisions
- Documentation
- Facility or service issues
- A past bad experience of care
- Disability or accessibility
MAMA-LINK identifies pregnant women who need support, gives them maternal-health information, links each one to an appropriate PHC service, supports referrals where they are needed, and follows up to find out whether she actually received care. When something stands in her way, the barrier is recorded and acted on.
MAMA-LINK staff do not replace doctors, nurses, midwives or CHEWs. They do not diagnose, prescribe or change a referral. Qualified PHC personnel remain responsible for all clinical assessments, treatment and referral decisions.
Her journey, stage by stage
The status codes the programme records at each stage
E: Enrolled
Registered after freely agreeing to take part.
I: Informed
Given clear maternal-health information.
L: Linked
Connected to an appropriate PHC or antenatal service.
R: Referred
Referred onward only where a health professional decides.
F: Follow-up active
Checked on at Day 7, 14 and 30; within 24–48 hours if urgent.
If something stands in her way
B: Barrier identified
What stopped her is recorded, not guessed.
BR: Barrier resolution
A non-clinical fix is tried, or the issue is escalated.
V: Access verified
Confirmed that she reached the service and received it.
C: Case closed
Day-30 follow-up done and her final outcome recorded.
E/H: Escalated. Raised with the PHC or government health system whenever an issue needs it.
A woman may hold several of these codes during her journey.
The accountability bar
It does not end when a woman receives information.
MAMA-LINK ends only when the programme can responsibly answer six questions about every woman it enrols.
What service did she need?
Recorded at stage E
Was she connected to it?
Recorded at stage LR
Did she reach it?
Recorded at stage FV
If not, why?
Recorded at stage B
What action was taken?
Recorded at stage BRE/H
What was her final verified outcome?
Recorded at stage C
“No beneficiary should disappear statistically between stages.”
Partners and team
Three organisations, one programme.
MAMA-LINK is jointly implemented by Daisy Oak Foundation, Veronica Foundation and Vivacity Development.
Daisy Oak Foundation
Leads community mobilisation, maternal-health engagement and last-mile follow-up.
Dr. Kiema Stephanie Ogunlana
Program Director
Veronica Foundation
Supports data, digital tracking and monitoring.
Mr. Godwin Agbane
MD/CEO
Vivacity Development
Supports strategic partnerships and resource mobilisation.
Engr. Oluwakemi Melody Areola
MD/CEO
The work takes place at Gbazango Primary Health Care Centre, Kubwa and Sabon Gari Primary Health Care Centre, Bwari. Qualified PHC personnel remain responsible for all clinical assessments, treatment and referral decisions.
Oxygen readiness
Is the oxygen there when it is needed?
Alongside its work with women, MAMA-LINK carries out a basic oxygen-readiness assessment at both PHCs. It checks whether this equipment is available and working:
- Medical oxygen
- Cylinders
- Concentrators
- Gauges
- Regulators
- Flowmeters
The findings will help identify gaps and guide future resource mobilisation for oxygen access, maintenance and facility readiness.
Five questions for each PHC
Is the oxygen equipment physically at the PHC?
Is it functional?
Is oxygen actually available when needed?
Is usage, refill and maintenance being documented?
Can the information reported digitally be independently verified on the ground?
Safeguarding and data protection
Only what is needed. Nothing that is not.
Taking part in MAMA-LINK is voluntary. A woman can decline, or stop follow-up at any time, and her decision does not affect her entitlement to healthcare services.
What is recorded
With her consent, and only what the programme needs.
- Her name
- Telephone or contact details
- Her community
- A programme ID
- Whether she is connected to maternal-health services
- Referral and linkage information
- Follow-up outcomes
- Barriers she met in reaching care
What is never collected
The system has no field for any of these, so they cannot be entered.
- National Identification Number (NIN)
- Bank Verification Number (BVN)
- Bank account details
- Copies of identity documents
- Unrelated medical history
- Religion
- Political affiliation
- Clinical diagnosis
Three separate consents
Taking part, the use of her information, and photographs or stories are each asked for separately. A woman who says no to photographs receives exactly the same support.
A code, not a name
Every woman has a programme code. Routine dashboards use that code, and reports use combined or de-identified figures rather than names.
Restricted access
Her name and phone number are seen only by authorised team members who need them for their work, and every view is recorded.
Safeguarding kept apart
A safeguarding concern goes to the designated Safeguarding Focal Person and is never written into ordinary programme notes.
Women under 18
No one under 18 is enrolled until written guidance from the relevant safeguarding authority is in place.
Kept only as long as needed
Identifiable information is kept only for as long as the programme needs it, then securely deleted or anonymised.
If you have an emergency or a serious pregnancy concern, seek professional healthcare immediately. MAMA-LINK does not replace your ANC card, hospital record or referral form.