Helium Health, a Nigerian healthtech company, has secured a $2.5 million grant from Google.org to expand its maternal healthcare initiative.
Dubbed HeliumMum, the initiative is using artificial intelligence to help identify pregnancy complications earlier, improve access to medical care and support healthcare workers in making critical clinical decisions.
The three-year programme aims to reach an additional 1.9 million women across Nigeria, while contributing towards a 30% reduction in facility-based maternal mortality.
The funding places Helium Health among 15 organisations selected globally under the $30 million Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Government Innovation, which supports initiatives using artificial intelligence to improve public services in partnership with governments.
According to reports, the company was the only Nigerian and sub-Saharan African organisation selected among the 15 recipients, from more than 2,600 applicants.
For women across Nigeria, where access to quality maternal healthcare remains uneven, the initiative could help improve how pregnancy risks are identified and managed, particularly in communities with limited access to specialist medical services.
How AI will support safer pregnancies
At the centre of the programme is HeliumMum, Helium Health’s maternal healthcare initiative designed to connect pregnant women with healthcare providers through digital health records and AI-powered clinical decision-support tools.
The technology will help healthcare workers identify potential pregnancy complications, assess risks, facilitate timely referrals and make better-informed decisions about patient care.Rather than replacing doctors, nurses and midwives, the AI tools are designed to support frontline healthcare professionals with information that can help them recognise warning signs and respond more quickly.
The programme will initially be implemented in Lagos, before expanding to Delta, Kano and Oyo states.Under its three-year implementation plan, Helium Health intends to:
Deploy AI-powered clinical decision-support tools across 150 healthcare facilities.
Onboard 300,000 women onto the programme.Reach 1.9 million women with maternal health education.
Contribute towards a 30% reduction in facility-based maternal mortality.
Help government agencies identify and respond to emerging health trends 35% faster.
The initiative will also provide government health agencies with data and insights to identify gaps in maternal healthcare delivery, monitor emerging health trends and improve the distribution of healthcare resources.
Nigeria’s maternal mortality crisisNigeria continues to carry a significant share of the global maternal mortality burden.
According to Dr Shona Oluwatola, Head of Public Health at Helium Health, the country accounts for nearly three in every ten maternal deaths globally.Behind these figures are women who face pregnancy complications, delayed medical interventions, inadequate healthcare infrastructure and difficulties accessing skilled medical professionals.
The situation highlights the importance of early antenatal care, timely diagnosis, emergency obstetric services and reliable referral systems.
Helium Health CEO Dimeji Sofowora said the company had already reached more than 3.5 million women through its maternal health initiatives over the past decade.
The new Google.org funding will help expand these efforts and extend maternal health information and services to more women.
For communities where healthcare facilities have limited resources, digital tools could help frontline workers make better use of available medical information and identify patients who require urgent attention.
Google brings funding and technical expertise
Beyond the $2.5 million grant, Helium Health will participate in a dedicated Google.org Accelerator programme.The initiative will provide access to Google engineers, AI product specialists and technical experts who will offer pro bono engineering support and guidance to help participating organisations develop and scale their solutions.
Maggie Johnson, Global Head of Google.org, said the initiative combines financial support with technical expertise to help organisations turn artificial intelligence innovation into practical public services.
The wider $30 million Google.org Impact Challenge: AI for Government Innovation supports organisations applying AI to public-sector challenges across healthcare, economic development and resilience.
Helium Health’s selection reflects growing interest in using locally developed technology to address healthcare challenges across African markets.
Can AI help reduce maternal deaths in Africa?
Maternal healthcare remains a major concern across Africa, where many women continue to face barriers to accessing quality medical services.Shortages of healthcare professionals, limited medical infrastructure, fragmented patient records and inadequate access to emergency services all contribute to challenges in pregnancy and childbirth care.
Artificial intelligence could help address some of these gaps by supporting early risk identification, improving patient records and providing healthcare workers with tools to make informed clinical decisions.However, technology alone cannot solve maternal mortality.The success of HeliumMum will depend on whether healthcare facilities can effectively adopt the tools, whether medical professionals receive adequate training and whether women in underserved communities can access the services.
Protecting women’s health will also require responsible management of sensitive patient information, appropriate clinical oversight and stronger investment in public healthcare infrastructure.For Helium Health, the challenge now is to translate the Google.org funding into measurable improvements in maternal healthcare delivery.
For Nigerian women, the ultimate measure of success will not simply be the number of people reached by the technology, but whether more mothers receive timely medical attention, experience safer pregnancies and survive childbirth.
As African countries explore how technology can strengthen public healthcare, initiatives such as HeliumMum raise an important question: can AI become part of the solution to Africa’s maternal health crisis?
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