Maternal mortality remains one of the most significant public health challenges in low- and middle-income countries, including Nepal. While most maternal deaths are linked to medical complications, an often-overlooked aspect of this issue is how women are treated during childbirth. Several studies have concluded that the majority of women giving birth at Nepalese health facilities have experienced at least one form of disrespect or abuse during labor.

TeamBirth is an intervention designed to promote respectful care, effective communication, and shared decision-making during labor. It is developed by Ariadne Labs and has been successfully implemented in many hospitals in the United States and Sweden. The intervention is a shared planning tool used in combination with structured discussions between the woman in labor, her support person, and her direct care team. Our project explores how TeamBirth can be adapted and integrated into health facilities in urban Nepal to address the need of more respectful care practices.

The thesis follows a combination of service and strategic design approaches with the goal of identifying opportunities and barriers to the implementation of TeamBirth in Nepalese health facilities. Based on a comprehensive insight phase and a strategic analysis, we have proposed a strategic plan with recommendations on design choices for how TeamBirth can be implemented over time.