Maternity Waiting Village

Location / Kasungu, Malawi

Architects / MASS Design Group

Year / 2015

Maternal mortality due to complications during childbirth remains a major global problem. In 2010 in Malawi, about one in thirty-six women had a lifetime risk of dying during pregnancy or delivery, largely from preventable causes. Maternal waiting homes have been used to increase access to skilled professionals located adjacent to health centers. These facilities provide a monitored space for expectant mothers starting from their thirty-sixth week until their delivery. The president of Malawi initiated an effort in 2012 to build 130 such facilities across the country.

The University of North Carolina Project-Malawi had been supporting a hospital in Kasungu, Malawi. As part of their partnership with the ministry, the initiative committed to building two new homes and invited MASS to partner in the country. The existing prototype was a single-room, barrack-like structure that did not provide adequate daylight, ventilation, or sanitation. Additionally, it could not accommodate patient attendants who traveled with the mothers, and its lack of programming failed to provide prenatal and daily living care. As a result, many women were leaving and going back to their own homes, rather than completing their pregnancy at the facility.