Country of Residence
Kenya
Age
18
Project title
Smart Mama Alert system
Project Summary: Describe your project in one sentence
I created Smart Mama Alert System to help pregnant mothers, especially those in underserved communities, get the right information about their pregnancy and reach help faster when an emergency occurs. Mothers receive weekly guidance through automated SMS, and during an emergency, they can send “HELP” by SMS or use USSD to alert health facilities. If no one responds, the system automatically escalates the alert. Till the mother is responded to
Website URL(s) or social media handles.
Project Category
My project is a brand new / emerging idea
Project Stage
Growth (We’ve moved past the very first activities and are beginning to have consistent weekly or monthly impact)
Founding Story: What was the spark that led you to start your project? What was the "Aha!" moment that led you to get started and see the potential for this to succeed?
Okay, I had finished my high school academics in 2025. I had the passion to develop something since back in school. Science fairs were something I loved; it was like my thing. I knew how it felt to present an idea or a project, solve a problem, and be able to present it to the community. One evening, while I was watching the news, I saw news about dying lives, about babies losing their lives and also mothers losing their lives. I felt an urge to help, but I couldn’t. I was just an 18-year-old girl; how could I? So, while repeated cases in Kenya started trending about maternal deaths, an idea came to me. But I wasn’t sure about it, so I had to research and see what and why mothers or babies die before their time, and I sought to find my answer. I presented this idea to my dad, and he was pleased and gave me a challenge to build it . But I felt short in terms of tech and all the coding. Then I decided to write an email to every organization that could help me with this project and help me to turn it into an idea or maybe they can adapt my idea . Well, for months, I didn’t get any response. Then one afternoon, I had finished creating a website that had a diabetes section where you could know your diabetes status for my dad, and he sought to make me remember about this idea. l decided to challenge myself and just try to make it and this is where it all started
The Problem: What problem are you helping to solve? Why does it matter to you and your community?
The problem I am trying to help solve is the delay pregnant mothers can face when they need information, guidance, or urgent help, especially in underserved communities. While researching maternal deaths in Kenya, I realized that the problem is not always that health facilities do not exist. Sometimes, mothers may not know the warning signs, may not know where to seek help quickly, or may face delays in communicating with a health facility when an emergency happens. This matters to me because behind every maternal death is a mother, a baby, and a family. As a young Kenyan girl, it was difficult for me to watch these stories and feel like there was nothing I could do. I kept asking myself how technology could help connect a mother to the right information and help when she needs it most. I believe that access to timely information and communication should not depend on where a mother lives. This is why I started working on Smart Mama Alert System. I wanted to create something simple that could support mothers through their pregnancy and help them communicate with health facilities during emergencies, even where access to smartphones or the internet may be limited.
Your Solution: How are you solving this problem? Share your specific solution.
My solution is the Smart Mama Alert System, a system I built to help pregnant mothers receive pregnancy information and communicate with health facilities when they need help. When a mother registers through a health facility, the system can send her weekly SMS messages based on her stage of pregnancy. The messages provide information about what she may expect during that stage, important reminders, and warning signs that should not be ignored. I chose SMS because it can reach mothers who may not have smartphones or reliable internet access. When there is an emergency, a mother can send “HELP” through SMS or use USSD to send an emergency alert. The system receives the alert and notifies the appropriate health facility so that the case can be followed up. If the first facility does not respond within the set time, the system automatically escalates the alert to the next level of care instead of leaving the emergency unattended. The health facility can also track the emergency and its response status through the system. Meanwhile, the mother can continue receiving her normal pregnancy guidance. I built the system because I wanted to create something practical, simple, and accessible. I am still learning and improving it, but I have already developed and tested the main emergency-response workflow. My goal is to keep improving it with feedback from healthcare workers and the communities it is meant to serve.
Impact: How has your project created impact / made a difference so far? Or, if at an early stage, what will impact look like?
Smart Mama Alert System is still at an early stage, so I do not want to claim that I have already reached thousands of mothers when I have not. So far, I have built and tested the main system and its emergency-response workflow in a testing environment. I have also shared the idea with my dad, who works in healthcare, and used his feedback to think about how the system could fit into real maternal healthcare workflows. For me, the impact is not only about the number of people reached. It is about whether the system can help a mother get useful information at the right time and make it easier for her to communicate when she needs urgent help. If the project is implemented in health facilities and communities, I hope to reach pregnant mothers who may have limited access to smartphones, internet, or quick communication with healthcare workers. I want to start small, work with healthcare workers, listen to mothers, and improve the system based on their feedback. My long-term goal is for Smart Mama Alert System to help reduce delays in recognizing danger signs and getting a mother's emergency alert to the right health facility. I am still learning, but I believe the system can grow from something I built as an 18-year-old girl into something that can support real communities.
Your Innovation: What is different about your project compared to other programs or solutions already out there? How is your project new or innovative?
What makes Smart Mama Alert System different is the way I have combined simple technologies to create one connected system for maternal support and emergency response. I am not trying to replace hospitals or healthcare workers. I am trying to make the connection between a mother and the health system faster and easier. Many digital health solutions depend on smartphones, apps, or internet access. I wanted to think about mothers who may not have those things. With Smart Mama Alert System, a mother can receive pregnancy guidance through ordinary SMS, and during an emergency she can send “HELP” by SMS or use USSD. This means the system can work with basic mobile phones. Another part I focused on is what happens after an emergency alert is sent. Instead of simply sending one notification and stopping there, my system has an escalation process. The alert first goes to the appropriate health facility, and if there is no response within the set time, it can be escalated to another level of care. This creates a follow-up process instead of leaving the alert unanswered. I also designed the system so that pregnancy guidance and emergency communication work together. A mother can continue receiving stage-based information while the healthcare side tracks emergency responses. For me, the innovation is not about using the most complicated technology. It is about taking technologies that already exist, such as SMS, USSD, and automated alerts, and putting them together in a way that can be useful for mothers who may have limited access to digital healthcare.
How many people are on your team?
1
Your team: What role(s) do your team members play? How do you share leadership with them?
At the moment, I am the only person on the project. I came up with the idea, researched the problem, designed the system, and have been learning and doing the coding myself. My dad, who works in healthcare, has also given me feedback and challenged me to think about how the system could work in a real healthcare setting. As the project grows, I would like to build a team with healthcare workers and other young people with technical skills so we can learn from each other and improve the system
What’s Next: What are the next steps you plan to take to grow or strengthen your project over the next year? If your project is still in the idea stage, describe the steps you will take over the next three months to launch or begin developing it.
Over the next year, I want to move Smart Mama Alert System from something I have built and tested into something that can be tested with real users and improved through their feedback. My first step is to work with healthcare workers and a small number of health facilities to understand how the system can fit into their existing maternal healthcare workflows. I want to listen to nurses, doctors, community health workers, and mothers and learn what works, what does not, and what needs to change. I also want to strengthen the technology. I plan to improve the SMS and USSD emergency process, the automatic escalation system, and the health facility dashboard. I want to make the system more reliable, secure, and easier for healthcare workers to use. Another important step is learning more about maternal health and responsible technology. I am still young and learning, so I want to work with people who have experience in healthcare, technology, and community programs rather than trying to do everything alone. Finally, I want to build a small team around the project and look for partnerships, mentorship, and opportunities that can help me test and improve the system. My goal for the next year is not simply to make the project bigger, but to make it more useful, safe, and realistic for the mothers it is meant to serve.
How do you encourage other people to join your project or learn about the problem you’re working on? If you have a new idea, tell us how you will do this in the future.
So far, I have involved a few people in different ways, even though I am still at an early stage. The first person I shared my idea with was my dad, who works in healthcare. He listened to the idea, gave me a challenge to take it seriously, and helped me think about how it could fit into a real healthcare setting. I have also reached out to different organizations because I wanted to find people who could support, guide, or connect me with others who understand maternal health and technology. I did not get responses for months, but I continued working on the project instead of giving up. I have also been sharing the idea with people around me and explaining why I believe communication during a maternal emergency matters. I want people to understand that this is not only a technology problem; it is a community problem. Going forward, I want to involve more people directly. I would like to speak with pregnant mothers, nurses, doctors, and community health workers so they can share their experiences and tell me what would actually be useful. I also want to encourage other young people who are interested in technology to join me and contribute their skills. I believe that if I want Smart Mama Alert System to help a community, the community should have a voice in building it.
