OBJECTIVES: The COVID-19 pandemic affected the health-seeking behavior of Ghanaians. Patient physical attendance to facilities was reduced nationally as well as healthcare practitioners (HCP’s) face-to-face consultations including maternal-related healthcare services. The study assessed the effect of mobile health (mHealth) on maternal healthcare-related referrals in health facilities in Kwadaso Municipality.

METHODS: This study adopted a cross-sectional study design using a mixed method. The quantitative arm of the study involved secondary data of 34,345 patients extracted from DHIMS 2 and analyzed using STATA version 16. Also, the qualitative data were collected using key informant’s interviews (KIIs) conducted among 13 HCPs. The qualitative data was analyzed thematically and facilitated manually.

RESULTS: The utilization of WhatsApp mHealth for maternal health-related referrals among other factors contributed to higher ANC coverage and deliveries from 37.6% in 2020 to 53.1% in 2021 and 26.7% in 2020 to 41.2% in 2021 respectively. Almost all the respondents mentioned personal smartphone usage, and timely response to maternal referrals as mHealth enablers. Finally, challenges mentioned by majority of respondents as hindrances to mHealth usage included data security & privacy, less knowledge on formal mHealth applications and after-hours calls & chats.

CONCLUSIONS: The study results show that the use of WhatsApp as an mHealth tool for maternal health related care contributed to the increased ANC attendance and delivery services during the COVID-19 pandemic than before through timely response and feedback by HCPs. Although the mHealth significantly improved maternal referrals, there is the possible risk of distraction among HCPs with their usage of smartphones in their routine work.