A dear friend and recent new mother came to visit a couple weeks ago from her adopted new home of the Netherlands, placed there by her Dutch husband’s astronomy career. Two and a half years ago, they were living in Cape Town, South Africa, a stark contrast to the Netherlands in many ways, especially in her experience as an expecting mother in both countries. To her surprise, after her hospital birth in Holland, a personal nurse came to her house for a week after the delivery to help with childcare, motherhood and the many household adjustments that surround starting a family. A boon for any new mom!
Of course, this generous maternal nurturing is a far cry from the norm, even in this country. Worldwide maternal and childbirth related deaths are on the decline, but nearly half of under-five child deaths are newborns. Not surprisingly, 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries. But startlingly, most of these deaths could be prevented. Mothers in poor countries may not have adequate resources or access to health related information about pregnancy and childbirth.
In 2011 Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched the Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA) to help address these concerns. MAMA is a partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Johnson & Johnson, the United Nations Foundation, BabyCenter, and the mHealth Alliance that sends vital health information to mothers via mobile phones. New or expectant mothers register with the service by entering their delivery date or child’s birthday and receive relevant updates—reminders for vaccinations, information on childcare and breastfeeding and timely topics during different states of development—up to the child’s first birthday. MAMA has reached over 20 million mothers thus far, and is currently focusing on building more extensive programs in Bangladesh, South Africa and India.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiQ0aVxuPPw&w=420&h=315]“More than one billion women in low and middle-income countries own mobile phones. By combining available technology and credible health information, the world has the knowledge and opportunity to help prevent millions of deaths and improve quality of life for moms and babies,” —Patty Mechael, executive director of the mHealth Alliance
This October, MAMA was honored with an Innovation by Design award from Fast Company in service design. Winners in other design categories skew heavily towards social impact innovations as well, including a portable baby incubator and a concept for a smoother wheelchair ride. Over 1,700 entries were submitted to the competition.
While the design and implementation of this initiative was more than likely an arduous process, the fact that it draws on resources already available—the proliferation of mobile phones in developing countries (something I wasn’t aware of)—makes MAMA unique. Funding can further support the outreach efforts and the messaging, instead of the research, development and creation of a new product. As designers, we are taught to create, to make something from nothing, when in reality, there might be a way to adapt or enhance something already in place. The best solution might not be in creating more “stuff” but in getting more and different uses out of things we already have.
