Maternova filling need for child-birth kits

Between 350,000 and 500,00 women worldwide die each year as a result of child birth, said Meg Wirth, founder and president of Maternova, a Providence-based startup begun in May 2009. “In many countries, for women between the ages of 15 and 45, child birth is the leading risk to their lives – more than war, famine, HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis,” she continued.
In response, Wirth developed an innovative, new business model that interconnects industrial design and social media with global health. Her for-profit company, Maternova, sits in what she describes as the new “mesh” – providing free access to online information and, at the same time, selling life-saving kits and product bundles as an online retail store.
“We asked ourselves,” Wirth explained, describing the genesis of her creative business approach to a social issue, ‘what are the technologies, protocols and tools to save these women’s lives? Can we put them all in one place? And how can we disseminate and distribute them more quickly?’ ”
Two of Providence-based Maternova’s first product offerings, developed through market research, were a “power pack” and a basic “clinical pack.” The power pack, Wirth said, “is a solar-powered lantern, so you are able to keep your hands free, and, a rotary charger for a cellphone.” In many places in the developing world, she continued, “there is unreliable power, and if you are off the grid, it allows you to have light and call for help. It’s a very simple thing, but it’s very popular with our customers.”
With the clinical pack, Wirth said, “it is a kit that focuses on the key protocols to prevent post-partum hemorrhaging, which is the main way that women die, because of bleeding.”
Maternova is starting to add new products to its retail online store. One is a liquid crystal temperature device, with a smiley face that changes color, to enable the person attending the birth to see if the child is too hot or too cold.
The company didn’t begin full operation until 2010, and the staffing is still very lean: There’s Wirth, a half-time programming person and some college interns. Many of the people who work for Wirth do so on a contractual, consulting basis, drawing upon the resources of about 25 people.
One of Maternova’s innovative approaches is to change the way that international organizations and others track and access innovations for maternal and newborn health. “Before Maternova, there was no single place to go to see what was new and in development in this space,” Wirth said. “Nor was there an easy way to access dozens of products that are already fully developed but inaccessible because of large volumes or price. Our products improve the ability of midwives and doctors on the frontlines to provide life-saving care.” Maternova’s current customers include: Midwives for Haiti; Haiti Village Health; CE Solutions (working in Guatemala); and Salesian NGO, operating in India
In addition, the Ministry of Health of Zambia is currently testing Maternova’s products, as is the Uganda Health Marketing Group and the midwifery association of Pakistan.
Maternova’s future targeted customers are the international organizations, often nonprofits, that provide funding, training and services at the frontlines of international health. These include Oxfam, CARE, USAID, Partners in Health, academic centers with research projects overseas and country governments. The company’s business plan has forecast that most of Maternova’s future business will be wholesale, using well-established procurement agencies and distributors who are already networked into more than 80 countries around the world.
The Maternova platform and social media presence are helping to increase awareness of its simple, life-saving innovations, but the company still has to overcome barriers to move beyond the early adopters in the market.
“We believe that by aggregating demand for products … we can unleash much faster, widespread uptake of innovation,” Wirth said. Most groups, whether in one small district of one country or whether working across the globe, seek to pilot-test new products in small- to medium- sized amounts. If successful, they then place larger orders and roll out larger programs. Without the ability to try out small- and medium-sized volumes, programs are simply unable to roll out new products.
Maternova’s solution is to aggregate demand and negotiate with manufacturers. “By doing so, we will create a group-purchasing scheme for a set of devices that has fallen below the radar of much of the global health community, but which can deliver enormous public health gains for mothers, infants and children,” she said. Still, Wirth recognizes the importance of working with early adopters – clinicians, doctors, nurses and nurse midwives who work both in the United States, as well as in developing countries. “They are the people who are providing the training, skills and know-how in developing countries,” she said. “They are the ones who will introduce new ideas and innovation. We call them globe-trotting clinicians.”
Wirth said that Maternova is currently negotiating private-label and group purchasing agreements that will further reduce price and volume barriers for nonprofits and other groups working in all corners of the globe. One of the products, she continued, is “a Western intrauterine device to stop bleeding, used in U.S. hospitals.”
In addition, Maternova is developing both clinical bundles and research bundles, what Wirth termed “little research packs,” that will provide simple tools to compare results and outcome information and report the results back to the website.
Wirth, on the advice of her board, wouldn’t provide details about current revenue and projections. But she spoke with pride about the way in which Maternova’s innovative, Web-based approach is making a difference around the globe. “A lot of what we do is to collect other people’s information, put up other people’s research, so that there is access to all the information in one place,” Wirth said. “We’ve done almost no traditional marketing, we’ve built our brand all through the platform on the Web, even if the product isn’t something you can have and hold.”
In the last six months, Maternova has attracted 28,000 unique users from 160 countries, doubling its count of users. It has also launched a one-of-a-kind Innovation Index based on extensive research and, as a result, uncovered dozens of technologies, many still in the R&D phase.
Recognition is also starting to come Wirth’s way: Maternova was a finalist in the MassChallenge startup competition 2011, and in June, it won the national LOHAS prize (Life of Health and Sustainability). The company was also a finalist in the 2011 William James Foundation Social Enterprise Business Plan Competition, and a finalist in the Rhode Island Business Plan Competition.
In addition, it has been invited to participate in the second round of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton’s Award for Innovation in Empowerment of Women and Girls. &#8226