5 steps, fast: This plastic sheet and pouch can stop thousands of women from dying after giving birth

DIY solutions can overcome the scarcity of medical resources in developing countries and save lives. A simple solution such as replacing expensive uterine balloons with more readily accessible condoms has already helped to give thousands of mothers access to a potentially life-saving medical procedure preventing postpartum hemorrhage. The transfer of this and other proven DIY solutions can help cut health-care costs in more affluent countries with low-cost innovations.

In collaboration with Intuitive Health, UF Health has opened three centers that offer both ER and urgent care 24/7, at the same facility so patients don’t have to decide themselves which care they need. Instead, doctors at the center make that decision and then the system bills the patient accordingly. This helps them avoid taking on expensive ER bills when that level of care may not have been necessary.

As rural hospitals stopped providing maternity care, Chatham Hospital opened a new Maternity Care Center in September 2020. The five-bed unit provides care to low-risk mothers and newborns and is staffed with family physicians trained in obstetrics and surgery, to keep costs down. In three years, the Maternity Care Center has delivered 402 babies, with birth volumes gradually increasing each year.

To address gaps in healthcare access, the local government partnered with organizations like Plan International, German Cooperation and the World Bank’s Saving One Million Lives Project to build, refurbish and equip primary healthcare centers across the state to provide better care. As of May 2023, 138 centers have been built or upgraded, offering maternity care services, child healthcare, vaccinations and family planning among other services.

Emergency Response Africa connects patients with first responders, ambulances and emergency-ready hospitals so they can get the care they need as quickly as possible. A 24-hour command center that can be reached by phone or mobile app dispatches the emergency response team of trained paramedics, which then brings the patient to one of the 82 verified emergency hospitals. Since it was established in 2021, Emergency Response Africa has received 1,243 emergency calls.

To aid in postpartum hemorrhage care, the Kisumu Medical and Education Trust distributes uterine balloon tamponade kits that can be used to stop excessive bleeding and prevent death after other measures have failed. The kits have been provided to more than 1,300 healthcare facilities in 23 countries and over 6,000 healthcare workers have been trained to use them.

Kangaroo mother care is a more affordable, accessible way to care for premature babies. It involves having mothers have 24-hour skin-to-skin contact, much like baby kangaroos in their mother’s pouch. This lifesaving practice is used in more than 50 countries worldwide. Studies show that babies who experienced kangaroo care grew up to be less hyperactive, better able to express their emotions and had stronger family relationships.

To reduce maternal mortality in the Masai region of Tanzania, Catholic nuns with Sisters of Notre Dame are building hospitals and educating local women about the importance of giving birth in a medical setting. Although this goes against the community's use of a "traditional birth attendant," delivering in a hospital allows for emergency situations to be better addressed and is receiving positive feedback from women in the region.

Instead of letting a rural Kansas hospital perish, one CEO found a way to recruit young physicians, and get grants for the hospital. His methods helped the hospital avoid the common fate many rural hospitals face, which are often forced to shut down. It “now serves about 20,000 patients annually, up from roughly 10,000 patients in 2012, and generated $23.4 million in revenue last year.”

In 2020, Nigeria's Rural Electrification Agency installed a 50-kilowatt solar-hybrid system at Gombe State Specialist Hospital, providing uninterrupted electricity to critical units, including the ICU and emergency departments. Since its installation, maternal mortality dropped from 15-20 deaths monthly to 1-2 per month, and neonatal deaths also decreased from 50 to 20-25 monthly. The system has also helped healthcare workers perform life-saving surgeries without interruption, as these surgeries were often delayed or impossible due to power outages.