VOA标准英语2013--South Africa Service Uses Text Messaging to Help Expectant Mothers

 

South Africa Service Uses Text Messaging to Help Expectant Mothers

By 2014, there will be more phones on this planet than there are people, according to the United Nation’s telecoms agency.

That startling comparison gave birth to an idea:

Why not use mobile technology to give health information to plugged-in women, who often hold a child in one hand and a phone in the other?

The Mobile Alliance for Maternal¹ Action is doing just that with an innovative² text-messaging program that sends out information about pregnancy³, childbirth and early childhood. The program launched this week in South Africa and is already in use in Bangladesh. India is next.

In keeping with its simple approach, the program is known as MAMA.

The program’s appeal boils down to several simple numbers. A shocking 21 children under the age of five die every minute of largely preventable causes. Three out of four people have mobile phone access. And in South Africa, the program is free for users of two of the country’s main phone providers.

An expecting mother might receive two to three messages a week. The messages provide encouragement, warning signs and important reminders⁴ from early pregnancy through the baby’s first year.

Digital entrepreneur Gustav Praekelt heads a foundation in his name that is working on the project.

"What the MAMA global program felt is that, by providing the right information at the right time, we can radically⁵ improve the health outcomes for mothers in South Africa and other developing countries in Africa. And so how the program really works is to make that information available, for free, on every single mobile phone available to mothers in South Africa," Praekelt said.

Dr. Vivian Black says the service will give valuable knowledge to patients like hers at this university-affiliated clinic in inner-city Johannesburg.

"One of my experiences over the years is that when patients come in with knowledge, the amount of time you actually spend working with them can be much more focused on the problem at hand rather than a lot of education on things that would improve the problem at hand, but is not a critical issue at that time," Black said.

This is one of MAMA’s success stories. Nine-month old Damian’s mother, Natasha Ncube, started the program when she was pregnant. MAMA advised her to breastfeed exclusively, so she did -- and Damian is healthy and happy.

"Like they send messages like, you have to love your child, sing to him, massage⁶ your tummy, he can feel you, something like that," Ncube said.

She says she recommends the program to friends -- and so does Damian, in his own way.

His first word, after all, was "mama."

1 maternal   

adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的

参考例句：

• He is my maternal uncle.他是我舅舅。
• The sight of the hopeless little boy aroused her maternal instincts.那个绝望的小男孩的模样唤起了她的母性。

2 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

3 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

4 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

5 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

6 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。