MamaSafe

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Inspiration

MamaSafe was inspired by a heartbreaking incident in rural West Pokot, Kenya. A young mother, who had endured years of silent abuse from her partner, lost her newborn due to delays in seeking care—partly because of fear, isolation, and lack of trusted information. Her story reflects a wider issue: in many Kenyan communities, women not only face health challenges during motherhood but also emotional and physical violence that goes unspoken and unsupported.

We built MamaSafe to become more than just an app. It is a safe space, a confidential companion, and a guide for women navigating their reproductive health and safety. We wanted to create a system that empowers women with the right information at the right time—privately, securely, and in their own language.

What it does

MamaSafe is an AI-powered mobile system that supports maternal well-being, with a strong focus on gender-based violence (GBV) support and reproductive health tracking. Key features include:

Discreet GBV Support: Detects potential signs of abuse during AI chat interactions and offers access to safe resources—such as local shelters, legal aid, and confidential helplines.

AI Chat Assistant: Available 24/7 in Swahili and English to answer questions about pregnancy, motherhood, relationships, self-care, and rights.

Period Tracker: Helps women track their menstrual cycles, ovulation, and symptoms privately—empowering them with better control over their reproductive health.

Safe Exit & Stealth Mode: Allows users in unsafe situations to quickly hide the app or exit without a trace.

Offline & SMS Mode: Works in low-internet areas using text messages and voice interactions.

Well-being Resources: Offers information on emotional health, safe motherhood practices, and post-violence care.

How we built it

Bolt: Used as the primary development platform to build a smooth, lightweight mobile experience for Android devices.

Supabase: Powered our secure backend, with role-based data access and encrypted user sessions for privacy.

Natural Language Processing (NLP): Trained an AI assistant to recognize conversational cues around maternal health, emotional distress, and potential abuse—using a custom dataset informed by Kenyan case studies.

GBV Response Engine: Created a rules-plus-AI system that activates discreet support options when GBV-related patterns are detected in user inputs.

SMS & Voice Layer: Integrated Twilio to support non-smartphone users and deliver safe, non-obvious messages.

Challenges we ran into

Privacy & Safety Design: Building features that help GBV victims without risking their safety (e.g., stealth exits, no visible logs) required deep consultation with GBV specialists.

Data Sensitivity: Period tracking and GBV reporting are highly sensitive, so we had to implement strict encryption and anonymous access options.

Cultural Barriers: Discussing menstruation and abuse openly is still taboo in many communities; we had to make the tone respectful, local, and empowering.

Connectivity Constraints: Ensuring all features work smoothly offline and via SMS required fallback logic and optimization.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Piloted MamaSafe in Machakos and Baringo counties with over 200 users in three months.

Successfully connected 17 women to GBV support services through discreet prompts and guidance.

Integrated a culturally aware period tracker that 150+ users relied on for cycle awareness and planning.

Built a Swahili-compatible AI assistant with over 88% accuracy in understanding questions around motherhood, menstruation, and personal safety.

What we learned

Reproductive health and personal safety go hand-in-hand—especially for young women and mothers.

AI can give women a sense of control and confidentiality, but only when built with empathy and trust at the core.

In rural areas, simple SMS-based interaction and safe exits are more valuable than flashy features.

Community health volunteers are key advocates—they help women trust and use MamaSafe as a private tool.

What's next for MamaSafe

Expand GBV Referral Network: Partner with more women’s organizations, shelters, and health centers across Kenya.

Improve Period Tracker Intelligence: Use AI to offer cycle insights, symptom prediction, and pregnancy planning support.

Add Anonymous Chatrooms: Create safe peer-support spaces for women to share and connect.

Multi-language Voice Support: Include local dialects beyond Swahili and add full voice-command functionality for low-literacy users.

Government Collaboration: Integrate with Ministry of Health and County GBV programs to scale impact nationally.

Built With

• expo.io
• jwt
• lucide
• postgresql
• react
• supabase
• tailwind
• typescript
• vite