Speaker: Sandra Mutilva
Facilitator: Caroline Maringa (Nyambura)
Introduction: Integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into healthcare holds transformative potential for midwifery, enhancing prenatal care, labour and delivery outcomes, and postnatal support. This systematic review evaluates how AI technologies can improve decision-making, client outcomes, and personalized care, highlighting the urgency for midwifery professionals to adapt to this emerging innovation.
Methods: Following a PROSPERO-registered protocol and PRISMA guidelines, this review investigated the impact of AI interventions in midwifery. A comprehensive search of electronic databases (PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE) and grey literature identified studies focusing on AI applications in women’s health, including prenatal, labour, and postnatal care. Data extraction captured key insights into the implementation and impact of AI. The PRISMA flow diagram documented the study selection process.
Results: The review explored AI applications across medical imaging, diagnostics, predictive analytics, personalized medicine, natural language processing, robotics, virtual health assistants, and genomics in midwifery. AI technologies improved diagnostic accuracy, patient monitoring, risk assessment, treatment personalization, and expedited drug discovery. Moreover, by automating routine tasks and reducing administrative burdens, AI supports midwives in focusing more on client care and their well-being. These innovations streamline clinical workflows and enhance patient outcomes, demonstrating AIs transformative potential in midwifery.
Conclusions: AI integration in midwifery is an emerging reality with profound implications for practice and care. Preparedness through training, professional development, and supportive regulations is essential to ensure ethical and effective adoption. Future research should address integration guidelines, challenges, benefits, and long-term impacts, ensuring AI complements midwifery’s core values while advancing client care.
