Revolutionizing Maternity Care: Meet the App Improving Outcomes for Black and Brown Babies
Maternal healthcare has long faced systemic challenges, especially when it comes to black and brown mothers and babies. A recent initiative by Ruby Jackson, a 23-year-old student midwife, aims to change that. Inspired by personal experiences and a glaring knowledge gap in how medical conditions present on non-white skin, Ruby developed an innovative app called Melanatal.
This app is designed to raise awareness and provide guidance for both clinicians and patients, specifically focusing on how symptoms of maternal and neonatal conditions appear on black and brown skin. From jaundice to pre-eclampsia, these conditions can look significantly different on darker skin tones, which can lead to delayed diagnoses and poor health outcomes.
Understanding the Problem: A Real-Life Story that Sparked Change
The need for Melanatal became clear to Ruby after a life-changing experience during a placement in Ghana. While working in a neonatal intensive care unit, she observed how clinicians identified jaundice in a baby by looking at the soles of its feet and the whites of its eyes. In stark contrast, during her studies in the UK, the primary signs of jaundice had been taught as “yellow skin.”
This discrepancy got Ruby thinking: if she had only been trained to look for jaundice in lighter-skinned babies, how many symptoms might she have missed on black or brown babies? This realization drove her to create a solution that could close this knowledge gap.
The Shocking Reality for Black and Brown Mothers and Babies
The statistics are alarming. Between 2019 and 2021, black women in the UK were four times more likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy than white women. This statistic underscores a larger, systemic issue: the healthcare system often fails to recognize and treat symptoms on black and brown skin in a timely manner.
The Creation of Melanatal: Bridging the Knowledge Gap
Ruby’s answer to this problem was Melanatal, a visual guide app designed to help both patients and healthcare professionals recognize early warning signs of neonatal and maternal conditions in black and brown women. By doing so, Ruby hopes to address the healthcare disparities that these communities face.
Key conditions covered by the app include:
- Jaundice: A condition often identified by yellowing of the skin and eyes. Melanatal guides users on where and how to look for jaundice in darker skin tones, where these signs may appear differently.
- Pre-eclampsia: A potentially life-threatening condition causing high blood pressure during pregnancy. The app helps identify early signs in black and brown women, such as swelling, sudden weight gain, and other symptoms that might otherwise be overlooked.
- Mastitis: This common postnatal condition can appear differently on darker skin, which can delay necessary treatment. Melanatal helps highlight key differences in presentation.
Recognition and Support from Healthcare Leaders
Ruby’s innovation didn’t go unnoticed. After pitching her idea to industry leaders like Amazon Web Services Healthcare, Cogniss, and The Validitron, she was named one of the winners, securing 12 months of mentorship and business support to bring Melanatal to life. She’s now part of the prestigious NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, giving her access to the resources she needs to pilot the app.
This pilot phase will take place within a trusted NHS facility, with the goal of rolling out the app across various healthcare settings after proving its effectiveness.
A National Call to Action: Educating Healthcare Professionals
Beyond the app, Ruby’s mission is to encourage healthcare providers and educators to rethink how they teach the signs of maternal and neonatal conditions. Her passion is echoed by leaders in the field, like Thelma Lackey, a senior lecturer at the University of Brighton. She stresses that the knowledge gap around recognising conditions on different skin tones is a national issue.
Educational materials are now being updated to reflect these realities. As Thelma put it, “We don’t say the sign is ‘Oh they’ll go pale’; we talk about how that would look different in different women.”
Impact on Families: Faster Diagnosis and Better Care
Ruby’s app has the potential to make a real difference for families. Maggie Myatt, a Sussex midwife and mother, sees immense value in Melanatal. By providing accessible information for both clinicians and patients, families can catch signs of serious conditions earlier. This could mean earlier access to GPs and faster treatment, potentially saving lives and improving outcomes.
The broader goal of Melanatal is to address racial disparities in healthcare. By ensuring that medical professionals are better equipped to recognize conditions on non-white skin, Ruby’s app hopes to prevent avoidable deaths and complications.
How Melanatal is Made: Hyper-Realistic Medical Illustrations
To ensure accuracy, Melanatal uses hyper-realistic medical illustrations and photographs. These visuals allow users to see exactly what symptoms like jaundice, pre-eclampsia, and mastitis look like on black and brown skin. This level of detail will make it easier for both healthcare providers and parents to catch signs of potential problems early.
The Future of Maternity and Neonatal Care
Melanatal has the potential to revolutionise maternal and neonatal healthcare, especially for black and brown women. As Ruby continues to develop the app with the support of industry leaders and healthcare professionals, the hope is that it will become an essential tool in reducing health disparities.
The app is a bold step towards improving outcomes for black and brown mothers and babies, but it’s just the beginning. Ruby’s vision extends beyond Melanatal—she hopes to raise awareness on a national level, pushing for lasting change in how healthcare professionals are trained and how care is delivered.
