In global public health, we often rely on education and risk-warning to drive behavior change. We tell expectant mothers why they must visit the clinic and the dangers of staying home. But what happens when information isn’t enough to overcome the barriers to care?
In Uganda, inadequate utilization of Antenatal Care (ANC) remains a primary driver of maternal and neonatal mortality. The disparity is stark: women in rural areas are twice as likely to skip ANC compared to urban women. When they do attend, they usually register late and rarely complete the baseline requirement of four visits, let alone the World Health Organization’s recommended eight.
To change this trajectory, we had to change the narrative. Instead of treating ANC as a clinical chore, we asked: What if we turned it into a celebration?
The Power of Human-Centered Design
During a recent Family Health campaign spanning 21 districts, S4P Group, working alongside district teams and USAID SBCA, utilized a Human-Centered Design (HCD) approach to tackle seven thematic health areas. For Maternal and Child Health, we collaborated directly with priority audience representatives to uncover what truly motivates expectant mothers in these communities.
The insight was simple but profound: pregnant women wanted to feel supported, prepared, and celebrated.
From this, our core intervention was born: The ANC Baby Shower.
Rethinking the Incentive
A baby shower is traditionally a small party to celebrate an expectant mother. We adapted this concept into a community-wide incentive program. We organized and hosted baby showers specifically for mothers who successfully achieved eight ANC visits. These events were vibrant community celebrations where qualifying mothers received gifts to aid in newborn birth preparedness.
The strategy was designed to achieve three things:
- Provide tangible rewards for completing the full ANC schedule.
- Create powerful social proof, encouraging other women in the village to embrace ANC and facility-based deliveries.
- Shift the emotional association of clinic visits from anxiety or inconvenience to anticipation and joy.
The Results: Celebration Drives Compliance
In districts where the baby showers were introduced, we observed a massive increase in women seeking ANC services.
The intervention caused a wave of excitement throughout the communities. Pregnant women actively encouraged each other to complete all eight visits so they could qualify for the showers and receive their preparation gifts. At the height of the campaign, we were conducting an average of 20 baby showers per month.
Crucially, the impact extended beyond the mothers. Health facility staff—often overworked and accustomed to interacting with patients only during clinical procedures—enthusiastically joined the celebrations. It gave providers an innovative, joyful way to promote behavior change, bridging the gap between the clinic and the community they serve.
3 Takeaways for Behavior Change Practitioners
For public health professionals and Social and Behavior Change (SBC) practitioners, this campaign offers critical insights into designing future interventions:
- Design for Joy, Not Just Risk: Traditional health messaging focuses on preventing negative outcomes. Interventions that leverage positive, joyful milestones are often much stronger motivators for sustained behavior change.
- Make the Invisible, Visible: ANC attendance is usually a private matter. The baby showers transformed a private health behavior into a celebrated public achievement, creating visible role models within the village.
- Engage the Providers: When interventions are fun and culturally resonant, healthcare workers become your greatest champions. The baby showers broke down clinical barriers, allowing nurses and midwives to celebrate with their patients.
By listening to the community and aligning health goals with cultural celebrations, we didn’t just increase ANC visits—we helped foster a community culture that actively champions the safety of mothers and their newborns.