Caring for a newborn can be challenging for new mothers, particularly those experiencing pain and limited mobility after childbirth.
A new award-winning innovation created by women, for women, could provide support in the future by reducing the physical demand on mums.
New mum Finella Sweeney injured herself trying to pick up her daughter Molly.
"I actually ended up popping a couple of stitches postpartum, bending down and lifting Molly, all the things you're advised not to do but you end up having to do," Sweeney told Newshub.
Stories like Sweeney's inspired Massey University student Sarah Lakomy to design the James Dyson Award-winning medical bassinet, Hatch.
"How can this design make their experience easier, how can we make the bonding more intimate and establish that connection and help them in those first few days," Lakomy said.
The pod is designed to support recovering mothers to achieve skin-to-skin contact, feeding, nappy changing and medical check-ups with minimal disruption.
"The caesar rate is quite high in the Western world so there are a lot of women out there having a caesar and have this limited mobility, especially for the first night or even the second night," midwife Joy Wadham told Newshub.
Wadham said having the medical bassinet would take a lot of pressure off midwives who are already struggling.
"They'll call the call bell for the midwife to come and help them get the baby out, but with short staffing, things like this and being able to have it close and do that thing themselves is quite helpful," Wadham told Newshub.
Lakomy said improving acute postpartum recovery also has the potential to reduce ongoing maternal health challenges, such as depression.
She also hopes it will put the spotlight on women's healthcare, a field she said has been historically sidelined.
"I'm really, really passionate about women's health and creating exciting conversations in a positive light, and I think it's an awesome space with heaps of opportunity,"
So that mothers and their babies can have the best support and care.
