Public-private partnership Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) is to introduce  a new service offering health information to pregnant women and new mothers in Bangladesh.

MAMA’s aim is to reach two million people with the service, which is called Aponjon, by 2015.

The organsiation says it has registered over 12,000 mothers, family members and organisations for the service.

Many of this number were signed up during the pilot phase of the new service by 750 community health workers. The workers were trained by D.Net, a social enterprise that is part of MAMA Bangladesh.

The new service’s name, Aponjon, means “trusted one”. It sends mothers and their families voice-based messages during pregnancy and the first year of a baby’s life.  Most users receive the information in the form of mini-dramas which are designed to be entertaining. Voice-based messages are suitable for an audience with a low level of literacy

MAMA was launched in 2011 as a public-private partnership between USAID, Johnson & Johson, the United Nations Foundation, mHealth Alliance and BabyCenter.

The initial countries targeted for MAMA’s services were Bangladesh, India and South Africa.