DIT revolutionises childbirth monitoring with Mamatrack

Dar es Salaam. The Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) has introduced a digital innovation known as Mamatrack—a real-time labour monitoring system aimed at enhancing maternal and foetal health outcomes.

The innovation is being showcased at the ongoing 49th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF), where it drew interest for its potential to replace the traditional paper-based pantograph—commonly used but often criticised for being inaccurate and inefficient.

Mamatrack combines engineering, graphing technology and AI-powered alerts to assist healthcare providers in monitoring the progression of labour and identifying potential complications in real-time. The system is particularly suited for low-resource settings, where maternal and neonatal mortality remain pressing challenges.

Its launch comes amid encouraging improvements in maternal health in Tanzania. According to the 2022 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey and Malaria Indicator Survey (TDHS-MIS), maternal mortality fell significantly from 530 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2015/16 to 104 in 2022. The drop is largely attributed to better access to quality healthcare services.

Speaking to The Citizen on Wednesday at the fairgrounds, engineer Penina Macha, one of the developers of Mamatrack, said the system is designed to streamline decision-making during childbirth.

“Technology is evolving every day, and healthcare providers want to see quick results to offer timely treatment,” she said. “Many hospitals still rely on paper records for monitoring labour, which can be prone to errors. Mamatrack offers real-time updates and visualises the entire labour progression clearly.” Ms Macha added that the system also gathers and analyses data on common labour complications, enabling medical staff to identify trends and respond proactively with the help of its AI-assisted decision support tools.

The system is also designed with rural and under-resourced clinics in mind. With offline functionality and automated plotting features, it offers a more accurate and accessible alternative to conventional labour tracking methods. “There are two of us behind the development of this system,” she said. “We’re currently applying for intellectual property rights so we can commercialise it. We’ve already run initial trials at Muhimbili National Hospital.”

Meanwhile, this year’s DITF will be officially opened on July 7 by Zanzibar President Dr Hussein Mwinyi—marking a departure from previous years when the fair typically began earlier in the month.

Minister for Industry and Trade, Dr Selemani Jafo, noted that one of the key highlights of this year’s event will be the official unveiling of the Made in Tanzania logo, a new national branding initiative aimed at boosting the visibility and competitiveness of Tanzanian products in regional and global markets.