A medical system of mobile clinics, tents, and a digital platform connecting pregnant women in rural Nepal with doctors for safe maternity care.
Tsinghua University
4 Months
Product Designer, UXUI Designer
Rhino, KeyShot, Figma
IDA Gold & Silver Winner
BACKGROUND
Pregnant women in rural Nepal face a high mortality risk. Professor Roger Smith’s Innovative Helicopter Retrieval Project addresses this by airlifting women with complications during delivery in remote areas to tertiary hospitals, backed by $92 million in funding. While the project has saved many lives, it requires significant resources and focuses only on delivery. As a designer, I believe maternity care should provide long-term support throughout pregnancy.
CHALLENGES
Awareness Improvement
Raise awareness of the importance of maternity care and motivate pregnant women in rural Nepal to accept it.
Accessibility Enhancement
Enable pregnant women in rural Nepal to access doctors and maternity services more easily.
Standard Treatment
Ensure consistent, reliable, and high-quality maternity care in rural Nepal, where hospitals are often under-resourced.
Entire Pregnancy Support
Provide at least 4 antenatal and 3 postnatal visits, in line with WHO’s recommended standards.
RESEARCH
Nepalese pregnant women face a maternal mortality risk 21 times higher than in developed countries. The main causes are indirect factors such as early childbearing, frequent pregnancies, poverty, and inadequate healthcare, which account for 32%, followed by haemorrhage at 26%. With proper antenatal care, however, doctors can provide timely support to help reduce many of these deaths.
Nepal is one of the least developed countries, where women’s education levels are low, with 84.56% completing only secondary education. Limited internet and mobile phone access further isolates women from essential information on maternity care and pregnancy risks. As a result, awareness of the importance of maternity care remains low.
The quality of hospitals in rural Nepal is very poor, and they can provide only basic treatment. As a result, even pregnant women who recognize the importance of maternity care cannot receive standard treatment when they go to the hospital.
Medical facilities and equipment are insufficient and limited in type.
Doctors are insufficient, with only 1 available for every 2,300 people.
Road density and quality in Nepal are very low, with 87% of roads unpaved, making it difficult for pregnant women in rural areas to access proper medical care in secondary and tertiary city hospitals.
CONCLUSION
For pregnant women in rural Nepal, low awareness of maternity care and limited access to effective services lead to high maternal mortality and poor pregnancy experiences.
REFERENCE
I explored several solutions that support people in rural areas in accessing standard healthcare and used them as references for this project.
Using drones to deliver essential medical products in remote areas.
Establishing 12 health camps to provide medical care for villagers.
Creating a health record platform to support the management and tracking of non-communicable diseases.
Deploying trained paramedics to patients’ homes for video consultations and data transfer, enabling doctors to provide timely care.
IDEATION
I designed a mobile maternal healthcare center that enables trained doctors to travel to villages and provide standardized maternity care to pregnant women in Nepal.
SERVICE BLUEPRINT
I used a service blueprint to illustrate the key processes, touchpoints, and stakeholder interactions, showing how standard maternity care is delivered to pregnant women in rural Nepal.
PRODUCT DESIGN
I redesigned a motorhome into a mobile clinic, equipping it with essential medical facilities for maternity care.
I tested the area size to verify that the space met ergonomic standards.
I utilized the umbrella-style quick-open structure to design a tailgate tent with three interconnected spaces, which can be separated by door curtains when needed.
The rear of the mobile clinic connects to the tailgate tent, creating a space where doctors can provide delivery services to pregnant women.
UXUI DESIGN
KEY TAKEAWAY
Through this project, I recognized the importance of systems thinking in design. I integrated physical infrastructure, digital tools, and medical staff into a cohesive network that delivers comprehensive maternal care for pregnant women in rural Nepal. By considering every stage of the maternity journey and coordinating stakeholder interactions, I designed a solution that functions as an interconnected whole rather than a single, isolated service, enhancing the overall maternity care experience.
Through this project, I learned the importance of considering long-term impact in design. Compared with emergency helicopter transfers, the system I created delivers lasting benefits: it raises women’s awareness of maternity care through multiple touchpoints with doctors, strengthens local healthcare networks by training staff and providing a digital record system for sustained maternal health management, and reduces infant mortality by improving maternal health outcomes.