Like a real child, the akua'mma were carried along on the back wrapped in a loincloth, the face forward with only the top of the head visible. The appearance of the akua'ba reflects a number of Asante beauty ideals: a shapely, flat skull, a high forehead and a long neck with lines. An attractive forehead slopes back evenly from the eyebrows to the top of the head, and the entire face, seen from the front or side, has an oval shape. A long neck with multiple skin folds (neck rings), preferably an odd number, was considered a sign of beauty, in both men and women. This indicated that you were rich, because healthy and well-fed. The ideal Asante woman had shiny dark skin, which was achieved by rubbing the skin with a cream of cocoa butter. Thus, the akua' ba was by no means intended as a realistic or naturalistic representation of a child but only emphasized the desirable forms for humans. It was believed that by seeing a well-shaped akua'ba, a woman was positively influenced and thus helped to give birth to a beautiful child.