A safe space for women to heal after terminating their pregnancy
Final Year Project for BA (Industrial Design) at National University of Singapore
Year: 2020
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD
Under the guidance of Professor R Brian Stone
Project Overview
In 2017, 15% of pregnancies in Singapore were aborted. There are laws in place that protect women’s privacy and ensure all Singaporeans have access to the procedure. However, their post-abortion emotional health is not well taken care of.
With little focus and emphasis on these women who are struggling after their abortion, it is difficult for them to seek help and support even though there are many who are experiencing the same struggles.
Goal
The goal of this project was to improve the current healing journey of women who are struggling mentally after their abortion by providing an easily accessible platform. Through research, interviews, and explorations, I identified the need to provide strong social support during their healing journey as the focus of this thesis project.
Opinions on the ethics and moral position on abortion are not in the scope of this project.
Process
Secondary research
To understand the struggles of those who experienced an abortion, I looked into existing materials such as scholarly articles and personal recounts. This provides me an overview of the situation from both medical and emotional points of view and the current supports available.
Interviews
Through interviews with stakeholders and women who had gone through the procedure, three main insights were discovered.
- They do not know how to help themselves and often require external stimuli
- They are hesitant to seek professional counseling early as they feel they do not need such serious interventions
- Family and friends can provide strong support, but some are unable to empathize with the women
Exploration
Based on the research and interviews, my explorations focused on solution that can be used with no or little guidance from professional help, and whenever the users require assistance.
The Design
Journey is an online social platform that connects women who are struggling after their abortion to support each other anonymously as they heal. By sharing their emotions and actions taken to recover, they confront their pain that may be too great to handle alone. In a safe space overseen by trained social workers, users do not have to fear being judged in this community.
Women that struggled after their abortion have hardly anyone to rely on. They bottle up their feelings, unsure of what to do to help themselves out of this state.
With this solution, they have a community that can empathize and be with them whenever they need. As they communicate anonymously, they do not need to fear having their identity exposed.
The mix of emotions felt after an abortion is foreign and confusing, but with this community, they are assured that they are not alone, and they will heal.
Jennifer Lim 