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Article History

Received: 2 August 2023

Accepted: 5 December 2023

First Online: 16 January 2024

Declarations

:

: This study received approval from the Research Review Committee and Ethical Review Committee of icddr,b (Ref: PR-16054) in Bangladesh, and the Regional Committee for Health Research Ethics–Southeast B Section (Ref: 2017/1028 C) in Norway. While informed consent is typically not required for health systems research using anonymous health data like our trial, we obtained informed consent from women to: 1) perform urine pregnancy tests due to the unavailability of test kits in the health system, 2) receive targeted client communication via SMS text messages with the option to opt out at any time, 3) be interviewed by data collectors at postpartum home visits 8–14 days after childbirth. The urine sample for the pregnancy test did not leave the home and women were free to refuse the test. For illiterate participants, all sections of the informed consent form were read out loud by the study staff and the woman’s thumbprint was obtained if she agreed to participate. For enrolment during a household visit or at a health facility, a family member acted as a witness to the informed consent process and his/her signature was obtained on the consent form. For enrolment at health facilities of women not accompanied by a family member, a randomly chosen pregnant woman attending ANC acted as a witness to the informed consent process. If this was not possible, the hospital assistant (health facility staff not involved in care provision) acted as a witness. Study procedures were performed in accordance with the ethical principles summarized in the Declaration of Helsinki – ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects [CitationRef removed].The MOH&FW notified all health workers and supervisors in the study site about their participation in the trial. No financial incentives were provided to the involved facilities or care providers for use of the digital tools. An incentive of 100 taka (approximately US $1) was given to women that voluntarily notified the study team of the completion of their pregnancy.The eRegistry data were owned by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in Bangladesh, with access limited to one authorized person. Researchers did not have access to identifiable data. The postpartum household questionnaire database followed standard protocols set by icddr, b.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.