STICC: Some Things I Can Control - Birth Bag Storage Unit

STICC: Some Things I Can Control, 2023
Prototype birth-bag storage unit
Powder coated steel, ash dowel, birch plywood, fabric, poppers

In 2023 myself and artists Amy Rose and Jack Stiling were awarded a design project to create a modular storage system to help manage birth bags and other items on maternity wards from researcher Dr Victoria Bates for University of Bristol UKRI research project Sensing Spaces of Healthcare. 

Part product design, part art intervention, we visited Southmead Hospital and began brainstorming all the wild and wacky ideas to remove luggage and items from the floor and keep them within easy reach of a patient in a hospital bed, and their visitors. We built models, sewed pockets, sketched and drew, discussing ideas with staff and the research team as we went. 

Amy came up with the wonderful name STICC - Some Things I Can Control, to re-position and re-prioritise the patient's experience of clinical maternity spaces. We wanted to focus on creating something personalisable, adaptable and flexible with natural patterns and materials where possible.

I designed the wavy, natural pattern to feature on the fabric pockets, and we developed a popper system for opening out the pockets to allow for easy cleaning and experimented with wipe down fabric. 

Jack Stiling designed the technical frame and welded it together, creating birch ply shelves and bespoke different length 'sticks' to maintain an organic, outside feeling. We had it powder coated in a deep green to feel more homely and less clinical in colour. 
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STICC: A modular storage system for the display and access of personal items for the labour and postpartum hospital experience. 

STICC: Some Things I Can Control is a prototype design for a birth-bag storage unit created by artists Ellie Shipman, Jack Stiling and Amy Rose for University of Bristol UKRI research project Sensing Spaces of Healthcare by Dr Victoria Bates in partnership with Fresh Arts. 

The original prototype we created was trialled at Southmead Hospital, Bristol, before being designed into an NHS-compliant batch of 10 by product designer Kevin Jenkins.

STICC is a simple structure that can be adapted by the user to accommodate all of the non-medical necessities of their birth experience whilst calming and ordering the sensory experience of the space. The proposed design is a mobile, triangular frame that is completed with modular fabric storage pockets. The fabric features an organic pattern designed by Ellie Shipman inspired by natural forms from the research team's collage workshops with patients. 

Find out more about Sensing Spaces of Healthcare and Fresh Arts

Photo 1 and 2: Ellie Shipman, 2023
Photo 3: Dan Weill, 2025