momi

A project I did this summer before leaving for Ghana, momi stands for MIDWIFERY AND OBSTETRICS FOR MOTHERS AND INFANTS.

Rural areas lacks access to public healthcare and the distribution channels for medicines and services is limited, leading to increased mortality and many diseases going untreated. The decision to acquire treatment is based on the cost to travel to the clinic or hospital: if it results in more money spent in transportation or wages lost due to the time taken to reach the facility, people will defer treatment until the condition is relatively serious. This ineffective system results in self-medication techniques, making pharmacies or other sources of medicines the most important part of the healthcare system. This shows a huge need not only for the distribution of medicines to remote areas, but also a requirement for health education so that rural households know the best way to treat their symptoms.

When it comes to women, more than 50% of the death rate is dur to childbirth. At the same time, the biggest cause of high Infant Mortality Rates in the developing world is due to lack of neonatal care. The goal of this project is to ensure that midwife's in rural India have the education and the

infrastructure required for childbirth. India's Infant Mortality Rate is one of the highest in the world, and the IMR in rural areas is much greater than urban areas. This project wants to address the challenges of childbirth and maternal health education in rural India.

The solution is a system where traditional midwives are trained for a month at nearby Primary Health Centers on how to use basic instruments during childbirth. At the end of this training module, they are given a child delivery bag that contains a stethoscope, sphygmomanometer, surgical handle + blades, surgical gloves, cotton yarn, and ivory soap.

Along with these, they are given two subkits - one for the mother and one for the infant. The mother's kit consists of a towel for her to lay down on, a muslin sheet to cover her at the time of delivery, and a washcloth to keep her clean. The infant's kit contains a cotton shirt and a cap for the newborn to wear, and a receiving blanket to wrap him/her in.

Below are some pictures of the Mother's kit and Infant's kit.

This was my first time working with packaging and branding and some of the graphics turned out to be too (sexy???) But after visiting the Primary Health Center in a village (Kenochi) in Chhattisgarh and speaking to a midwife in a nearby village (Amadov), I am ready to go back and redesign some of the graphic elements, as well as build the system further based on their input!