Empathize

 

• According to the World Health Organization, maternal morbidity and mortality rate in Kenya stands at 488 deaths per 100,000 live births

• The team attended women social gatherings to listen to information shared by social workers on maintaining a healthy pregnancy and improving mother and child health post pregnancy

• Individual case studies were conducted to understand family dynamics and the level of support expecting mothers received from family and friends

Define

 

• The team debriefs uncovered that:

  • Very few women attended 3 neonatal visits as per the recommendation of the World Health Organization because:

    • Illiteracy - Few understood the importance of neonatal visits.

    • Distance - Their homes were far away from the main health centers and few knew where the local mobile community clinics were located.

  • The costs of food and nutritional supplements were high and, very few expecting mothers knew what alternatives were available to them.

  • Upon visiting the health centers, very few women asked for the free nutritional supplements due to ignorance.  

 

Ideate​​

 

• The team observed that every household had at least one mobile phone due to the availability of low-cost mobile phones (around $10) in Kenya.

• Not all mobile phones could access the internet, however, receipt of text messages was free.  

 

Prototype

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• The team developed a messaging service that expecting mothers could sign up to, providing information about the current stage of their pregnancy.

• For the pilot, the team signed up 100 expecting mothers.

• The women received periodic text messages with information on what symptoms to expect based on the stage of their pregnancy, reminders of neonatal visits, the location of the nearest health center, key questions to address with doctor upon visiting the health clinic, and cheap nutritious food options depending on the agricultural season. 

• The women had the flexibility to select their preferred language for the text.

 

Test

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• The metric measured was the number of neonatal visits the expecting mothers attended.