Improving Pregnancy Outcomes
Ad-hoc Information and Incentives for Service Delivery

Project Summary

This project seeks to improve the delivery and impact of health services provided through Prospera (formerly Progresa and Oportunidades), Mexico’s conditional cash transfer program. Focusing on women that are either pregnant or in puerperium, this project will provide access to the RapidPro platform. Through RapidPro, Prospera beneficiaries will: (i) engage in personalized two-way SMS, tailored to the specific circumstances of each individual beneficiary; and (ii) be able to provide incentives to clinics based on the feedback that users send about the quality and characteristics of health services received.

A randomized controlled trial will be implemented to provide rigorous evidence. Three treatment groups will be compared to a control group of beneficiaries that will remain in the Prospera program in its current form. The first treatment group will gain access to RapidPro; the second group will receive access to RapidPro and local community representatives will play an active role in such interaction; finally, the third group will gain access to RapidPro and be able to give incentives to clinics based on beneficiaries’ feedback. This trial will measure the behavioral changes and health outcomes at birth.

This project will be implemented by the Mexican Federal Government through different agencies, namely Prospera, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Social Development, and National Digital Strategy team of the Office of the President. Other key stakeholders that will participate include: QFD, BIT, IIDSES, UNICEF, the MIT Media Lab and the University of Chicago’s Centre of Data Science and Public Policy. The United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth Office and the Mexican Government are funding this project.