Birth Options
Digital tools for informed birth decisions
The Challenge
Birth Options is a clinical research initiative led by obstetricians at the University of Liverpool and Liverpool Women’s Hospital. Their focus: reducing the high rate of emergency caesareans in first-time births, currently affecting 1 in 3 in the UK. These events often lead to long-term trauma, and add strain to overstretched maternity services.
The team set out to explore whether better outcomes could come from better understanding. Could women and birthing people feel more prepared, and make more informed choices, if given access to clear, judgement-free information about their risks and options?
Both tools are simple, secure, and fully offline-capable, built to work within the realities of everyday care.
Outcomes
To support the trial, we designed and delivered a digital toolkit clinicians could use immediately: a risk calculator that predicts the likelihood of emergency caesarean, and a website structured around balanced, evidence-backed birth information. Both tools are simple, secure, and fully offline-capable, built to work within the realities of everyday care.
The calculator helps identify high-risk patients in seconds, without collecting or storing data. The website gives clinicians a standardised, easy-to-understand resource they can share confidently with patients. These tools are already being used in trial sites to guide conversations, reduce uncertainty, and help people feel more in control of their birth experience. While full results are still to come, early signs point to a clearer, more consistent approach to decision-making in maternity care.
We started with in-person sessions alongside midwives and obstetricians, mapping workflows and identifying key patient needs.
Then we built a Figma calculator with conditional logic for fast, offline iteration. The website, created in Framer, is based on a clinically approved information set and allows the team to manage content independently.
Project Summary
We also refreshed the visual identity, updating the logo and colour palette to reflect the clarity of the tools. The aim wasn’t to over-brand, but to improve visual consistency, build trust, and ensure the experience felt neutral and accessible for both clinicians and patients.
Throughout we worked closely with the team on content structure, tone, and ownership, helping them launch tools that feel balanced, empowering, and easy to maintain.