Image courtesy of MASS Design Group
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The problem
Giving birth far from help
In the East African country of Malawi, many women die in labor because they live so far from health services.
The solution
Short-term housing near hospitals
A maternal waiting village is a safe, sanitary, welcoming place for women approaching the end of pregnancy to stay near a health clinic until they go into labor.
Image courtesy of MASS Design Group
The role of design
MASS Design incorporated solar windows and panels for natural light and sustainable climate control into a 32-bed village with communal kitchens, bathrooms, and social space for a space that's practical, beautiful, and welcoming.
Image courtesy of MASS Design Group
Impact
The professional journal Midwifery (vol. 62, 2018) found that women preferred MASS Design's village to traditional maternity waiting homes, suggesting that building more will increase use and significantly reduce Malawi's maternal and neonatal mortality rates.
Image courtesy of MASS Design Group
Learn more about MASS Design Group
MASS Design's 25 projects in 21 countries also include schools, hospitals, research centers, and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, which earned the firm the 2018 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Architecture.
Our projects have challenged us to question what it means to be proximate, to be community driven, to serve the public, and to think of the built world around us as part of our rights to determine.
Image courtesy of MASS Design Group
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