Maia provides mothers with on-demand, low-maintenance, and reusable cooling pain relief, as well as tear surface monitoring for early signs of infection. It comes with two kits: the disposable kit contains liners and spare gel packs, while the reusable kit contains the technology-based elements of the system. The digital solution tackles the emotional difficulties of recovery by allowing mothers to create meaningful connections with all other individuals in the recovery loop - mothers, GPS, midwives, and more.

“95% of first-time mums tear during birth”, but what’s more shocking is that 6% of these are third/fourth-degree tears (36,800 women in the UK in 2020 alone). These tears require major surgery, 6+ weeks for suture healing, and perineal pain lasting 6 months (but often longer). Current perineal tear management has numerous deficiencies within the NHS: inadequate pain relief, no infection monitoring, and a lack of emotional support.

Mums commonly feel abandonment, neglect, and isolation during this period. Dealing with a perineal tear has massive repercussions on the psychological state of a mother in the postpartum period and the support network in the UK is currently failing to provide the right level of consistent support and guidance. Since Maia is an accompaniment system, it allows mothers to focus on their babies and themselves while creating meaningful connections through the app. The design provides a sense of calmness by improving their knowledge regarding the tears and how to effectively manage them in a critical moment.