This past week I had the opportunity to work with a group called MamaTips, being pioneered by two Kenyan UC Berkeley students, Duncan and Fanice. MamaTips is a service that sends phone messages (text or voice) to pregnant women to give them needed information about how the baby is growing in the womb and important danger signs to watch out for. The service is aimed towards pregnant Kenyan women who may have limited access to healthcare or to basic maternal-child healthcare education. We planned out each of the messages to be sent out weekly throughout a woman’s pregnancy. We laughed a lot as we were trying to contextualize our message to a Kenyan setting. Things like, “Your baby is now the size of a cantaloupe” – and all the Kenyans in the room just looked at us as if we were crazy! MamaTips is still in the beginning stages as they look to complete their funding to be able to fully launch. I’m excited to be part of something that will have such a positive impact on Women’s and Children’s Healthcare in Kenya.

Thankful for your partnership,
Allyson