Said Achmiz, currently a senior at Brooklyn College (CUNY), worked with advisor Sri Kurniawan and graduate student Alexandra Holloway in the Assistive Technology Lab to develop Digital Birth, an iPhone game designed to help women and their partners prepare for labor and childbirth. The goals of Digital Birth are to promote partner participation in childbirth, to educate prospective birth partners on how to best provide support to a woman in labor, to improve the mother-to-be's birth experience.
Digital Birth simulates a woman going through labor, from the time that contractions start to the moment that the baby is born. The player takes on the role of the birth partner: a husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend/etc., who is supporting the mother-to-be throughout the course of labor. The game objective is to ensure that the mother’s needs are taken care of, that she is comfortable, and that her birth experience is positive. Digital Birth emphasizes non-medical intervention, and teaches the birth partner (the player) to be sensitive and responsive to the individual needs and preferences of the woman in labor.
Digital Birth is targeted at first-time birth partners, primarily in lower income communities. It was designed on the basis of statistics and research about real-world birth, as well as the expertise of a birth doula. User testing is scheduled to begin in the fall.
Said Achmiz is majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Cognitive Science at Brooklyn College (CUNY).