Akuaba, Akua's child, is named for a carved wooden doll, most famously the flat-headed, disc-faced Akan fertility figure, and Willis records it as traditionally carried by a woman hoping to conceive or to protect a child already born, a genuine ritual and devotional object rather than a toy, worn tucked into a wrapper against the body in a manner meant to accustom the carrier to the presence and care of a child.
As an Adinkra symbol drawn from that object, it stands for fertility, feminine beauty as culturally defined within that tradition, and protective care extended toward children, and Willis notes the doll's distinctive disc-shaped head, often cited as reflecting an Akan ideal of beauty current when the form developed, is carried into the flattened, stylized cloth version of the symbol as its most immediately recognizable feature. Willis notes regional variation exists in the doll's exact proportions and facial treatment across different Akan carving traditions, with the flat, disc-shaped head remaining the constant, defining feature across every documented regional variant he consulted, the detail that makes an Akuaba recognizable regardless of the carver's particular workshop or local style.