An offline-first digital companion for the labour room that translates WHO's evidence-based guidance on positive childbirth experiences into simple, actionable bedside interactions for nurses and midwives.
Built by Doto Health, as part of the UNICEF FemTech Ventures positive-birthing-experience initiative.
⚠️ Clinical disclaimer: This solution is a support tool, not a diagnostic or treatment tool. Hydration Check produces a prompt for further assessment, not a diagnosis. Learn provides general health education, not personalised medical advice. Clinical judgment stays with the healthcare worker at all times.
🚧 Status: This project has just started. Most of the pipeline, code, and clinical content described below is planned, not yet built or published. See Status & Roadmap.
Project Charter · Architecture · Developer Docs
The WHO recommendations on intrapartum care for a positive childbirth experience (2018) and recommendations on maternal and newborn care for a positive postnatal experience (2022) together include 56 intrapartum and 63 postnatal recommendations. This guidance is evidence-based, but impractical to consult mid-shift, at the bedside, in the next few minutes.
Positive Birthing Companion closes that gap with an offline-first tablet/kiosk application, built around four modules, designed primarily for staff nurses and midwives (large touch targets, minimal text, one-or-two-tap navigation, usable while gloved and multitasking), with the labouring mother and her companion as secondary viewers.
It does not diagnose, treat, or make autonomous clinical decisions. It surfaces evidence-based comfort practices and assessment prompts; clinical judgment stays with the healthcare worker.
- Sound & Calm — curated, evidence-informed relaxation music (Calm / Instrumental / Spiritual)
- Hydration Check — temperature/pulse entry with a rule-based hydration prompt (an assessment cue, not a diagnosis)
- Move & Ease — guided breathing, movement, and relaxation videos
- Learn — short, WHO-sourced answers to common pregnancy, labour, and postnatal questions, with search
Content works offline and is planned to ship in 13 Indian languages at launch.
See Architecture for how each module is planned to fit together technically — flagged there as design-stage, since no code has been published yet.
This is the planned layout. No application code has been published yet — see Status & Roadmap.
├── src/ # application code (planned, not yet published)
│ ├── sound_and_calm/ # Module 1 — music library & player
│ ├── hydration_check/ # Module 2 — rule-based assessment logic
│ ├── move_and_ease/ # Module 3 — video library & player
│ └── learn/ # Module 4 — FAQ + search
├── content/
│ ├── music/ # CC-licensed / commissioned audio (planned)
│ ├── video/ # CC-licensed / commissioned exercise & breathing videos (planned)
│ └── learn-faq/ # WHO-sourced FAQ content, per language (planned)
├── docs/ # developer documentation (GitHub Pages)
├── assets/
├── ARCHITECTURE.md
├── PROJECT_CHARTER.md
├── QA_PROCESS.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md
├── LICENSE.md
└── README.md
This project is built to qualify as a Digital Public Good (DPG). It uses a dual-track approach because it bundles application code and media/educational content, which the DPG Standard treats differently:
| Component | License | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Application code | Apache License 2.0 | Permissive adoption by health systems, NGOs, and government digital-health programmes; includes an express patent grant. |
| Music, video & educational content | Creative Commons (CC BY or CC BY-SA 4.0), CC0 where applicable | Matches how the DPG Standard treats non-software content; keeps localisation/adaptation legally simple. |
Full DPG registration is tracked as an open item ahead of broader release. See PROJECT_CHARTER.md for the full rationale.
This project has just started. Nothing below is confirmed unless checked off.
Phase 1 — Core Product (planned)
- Four core modules: Sound & Calm, Hydration Check, Move & Ease, Learn
- Offline-first functionality
- Manual entry of maternal vitals (Hydration Check)
- Support for 13 Indian languages
- Hydration Check thresholds clinically validated
- Learn FAQ library curated and clinically reviewed
- Music & video content sourced/commissioned and licensed
- Clinical/Obstetric Advisory Board formed and signed off
Future Scope (not started, per PRD)
- Labour-room TV / display casting
- Integration with bedside monitoring devices and EMR systems
- Clinician-facing dashboards
- Additional regional language and content packs
- Digital Public Good registration
Open items requiring confirmation (per PRD — not yet decided): product name confirmation, pilot facility & geography, clinical advisory board members, Hydration Check threshold values, exercise content source/owner, music library finalization, language rollout sequence, data retention approach.
This project is pre-alpha; architecture and code have not been published yet. See CONTRIBUTING.md for how contributions will be handled, and QA_PROCESS.md for how clinical content will be evaluated once available.
All contributors are expected to follow the Code of Conduct.
Code licensed under the Apache License 2.0. Music, video, and educational content licensed separately under Creative Commons — see Licensing.
DOTO Software - software@dotohealth.com
Project Link: https://github.com/DOTO-Health/positive-birthing-experience.git
DOTO and the DOTO logo are trademarks of DOTO Health. Licensed under Apache 2.0 — trademark use is not covered by the code license. See LICENSE.md.