WUNRN
AFGHANISTAN - INFLATABLE DONKEY
"SADDLE" GIVES COMFORT & SAFETY FOR RURAL WOMEN EN ROUTE TO GIVE
BIRTH
The
new maternity saddle is designed to carry women in labor across
By Antoine Blua - September 28, 2013
Enter the maternity saddle -- a new invention that promises to carry women in
labor across
The British charity HealthProm and designer Peter
Muckle developed the inflatable donkey saddle to ease the burden on women about
to give birth in remote areas of
The lack of suitable transport in mountainous areas leads many pregnant women
to opt against heading to health centers in favor of giving birth at home,
raising the risks for both mother and child should complications arise.
According to Muckle, his invention provides a lightweight and comfortable way
for women in labor to get the medical attention they need.
"HealthProm found that there was no comfortable way for women to travel in
order to give birth," he says. "And they also found that if they did
give birth in the health centers there was much more chance of them
surviving."
The final version of the "donkey ambulance" was showcased during an
exhibition of low-cost, frugal medical technology in
Muckle pieced the saddle together using inflatable camping cushions, the
armrest from an air bed, and part of an inflatable pool lounger.
'Positive' Response
Four prototypes of different designs and sizes have been assessed and tested
over the past year in Charkent, a mountainous district in the northern
The best elements of the prototypes were incorporated into the final design.
Dr. Azada Parsa, the project manager of HealthProm's Safe Motherhood Project in
the provincial capital of Mazar-e Sharif, says the feedback has been "very
positive."
"The donkey saddle is very safe and secures the pregnant woman during her
transfer to the health center," she adds. "They are very happy with
this saddle and they are coming to the health center all the time while they
are in labor."
In Charkent, the journey to health centers or midwives can take up to four
hours, often at night, under uncomfortable and dangerous conditions.
With this saddle, Parsa says she hopes more women will be encouraged to make
the long journey rather than giving birth at home in unhygienic conditions and
without access to medical expertise.
HealthProm is looking for donations in order to produce and distribute the
final version of the $120 saddles to Afghan villages.
A tailor in Mazar-e Sharif with previous experience working with heavy cloth
has been chosen to construct eight saddles to be handed out this year.
By next year, Muckle hopes
every component will be produced locally and that it will be possible for the
saddles themselves to be made by anyone.
"It's a pattern that I've made, so it's something that we are not selling
really as a saddle -- we're giving the pattern to people to copy," he
says. "So the idea is to make it a simple pattern that works very well
[and] that people can make themselves."