Innovations Item Code: IN-2024-2100374
Sector: Health/Telemedicine
Description:
WeCare is a maternal health innovation aimed at reducing high maternal mortality rates in Nigeria by providing comprehensive monitoring of maternal health parameters.
This innovative device integrates advanced sensors and techniques to monitor crucial variables such as:
- Maternal amniotic fluid levels
- Blood glucose levels
- Oxygen saturation
- Fetal heart rate
- Ante-natal hemoglobin levels
- Uterine size and conditions
- Coagulation profile
- Placenta location and integrity
- Blood pressure monitoring
By collecting this real-time data at regular intervals, WeCare empowers healthcare providers with early detection of complications like hemorrhage, high blood pressure, and obstructed labor during pregnancy and childbirth.
The device offers a holistic approach to maternal health monitoring, bridging existing gaps in prenatal care and improving health outcomes for expectant mothers.
Apart from reducing maternal mortality rate, WeCare aligns with key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as:
- Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3)
- Gender Equality (SDG 5).
Stage of Innovation: Proof of Concept (You have created something to show the innovation can work)
Problem:
WeCare - It Can Be Better
WeCare aims to solve the problem of high maternal mortality rate in Nigeria and Africa.
According to the WHO, nearly 20% of global maternal deaths happen in Nigeria. In fact, Nigeria's maternal mortality ratio was at 800 per 100,000 live births in 2015.
In 2018, about 80% of married women were at high risk of complications during childbirth.
And this year, 2024, the maternal mortality rate in Nigeria is 443 per 100, 000 births. In other words, a Nigerian woman has a 1 in 19 lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or childbirth. This risk is super high relative to the 1 in 4900 lifetime risk seen in most developed nations.
That's why WeCare hopes to introduce a non-invasive IOT device that monitors specific variables in pregnant women and sends them to trained medical professionals.
This device would help prevent cases of obstetric hemorrhage and hypertension, which are the major causes of high maternal death rates.
Unique Selling Point: In the Nigerian healthcare space, Wecare is a unique solution. However, several similar solutions exist in Europe and US. For example, Sense4baby is an FDA-approved solution in the US. It can monitor fetal heart rate and utirine activity in pregnant women. That said, WeCare isn't a cheap imitation of solutions like Sense4baby. Here are some diffrences beteween WeCare and this technology: - Wecare utilizes both IoT and GSM for communication between health care professionals and patients. - WeCare is designed to monitor every variable that impacts obstetric haemorrhage and hypertension in pregnant women.