Communicating complex maternal health information to Aboriginal mothers in the Northern Territory was the central public health communication challenge.

The six scripts, written by Dr Kiarna Brown in consultation with Aboriginal health workers, contained important pregnancy health information.

But they weren’t fit for animation: no visual thinking had been built into the scripts, leaving clinical processes and pathologies to be explained in words alone.

I rewrote the scripts using the logic we developed through detailed script editing: clarify what the audience needs to understand, structure the information in a clear sequence, and work out what each idea needs visually.

I then found visual solutions for complex health issues, processes and pathologies. Identifiable characters and true-to-life settings made the health education videos inviting, without over-idealising pregnancy or motherhood.

The six maternal health animations were developed with Menzies School of Health Research for the Dangudbila pregnancy app, created for mob, by mob.

Together, they provide an Aboriginal health education resource about pregnancy and antenatal care.

The series shows how health education animation and visual storytelling can help health and research organisations communicate complex health information.

See all 6 videos in the Dangudbilla App