IWAN BAAN

THE KASUNGU MATERNITY WAITING VILLAGE IN MALAWI BY MASS DESIGN GROUP

In 2015, MASS Design Group in collaboration with Malawi’s Ministry of Health, the University of North Carolina Project Malawi and with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, designed and built a replicable prototype for a maternity waiting home that would address the challenges of high maternal mortality rates in rural parts of the country.

Here’s how they describe it,

Previous Maternal Waiting Home

In Malawi, maternal and neonatal mortality continue to be major public health challenges, largely because few deliveries are attended by a skilled professional; in 2010, one in thirty-six Malawian women had a lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or delivery. Maternal waiting homes address this issue by providing a facility within reach of a health center where expectant mothers, after their 36th week, can stay until their delivery period in order to receive care.Past attempts at using this model have been less successful as the homes have lacked places to sleep, adequate ventilation, and sanitation.

MASS Design Group’s new prototype “village” reflects the vernacular by creating clusters of four-bed units around small courtyards, offering women a protected, comfortable, and dignified space in which to carry out daily activities. Designed around replicable modules and built of locally-made CSEB (compressed stabilized earth blocks), the facility can be replicated and adapted to other sites as part of the country’s drive to improve maternal health.

IMAGES COURTESY ARCHIDATUM

The Maternity Waiting Village was completed in partnership with the University of North Carolina – Malawi, Malawi Ministry of Health, the Presidential Initiative for Safe Motherhood, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Autodesk Foundation. You can read a detailed description about the project here.

Project Details
Location: Kasungu, Malawi

Year: 2015

Size: 670 sq. m.

Clients:University of North Carolina – Malawi, Malawi Ministry of Health

Partners:
Arup (Tim White)
Mazzetti
Builts Environs Ltd.
The Malawi Ministry of Health
The Presidential Initiative for Safe Motherhood
The Gates Foundation
The Autodesk Foundation

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