Babies are on their own schedule and can come into this world regardless of war or natural disasters. They also do not concern themselves with the availability of a skilled health care provider or the environment they are born into.
For centuries, a clean birth has been recognized as essential to the health and survival of both mothers and newborns. When babies are delivered in unsanitary conditions without proper care, an otherwise healthy child can be at risk for getting an infection and even dying. According to the World Health Organization, each year almost one million babies die from infection.
For this reason, the United Nations Population Fund and numerous aid organizations are distributing clean birth kits (CBK) in the developing world. These CBK are appropriate in conflict or humanitarian emergencies. Most births in rural areas of developing countries take place at home, often without medical assistance. In these settings, the CDK can reduce maternal and child mortality. The kits are distributed free, so financing is the major obstacle in increasing the kit’s use.
A simple small package, the Clean Delivery Kit contains a clean plastic liner to put under the birth area, gloves,pieces of gauze, a clean razor blade and string for tying the umbilical cord, and soap to wash well before and after the birth. A pictorial instruction sheet is included, as a reminder of the information about the birth process and how to use the materials in the kit. These simple tools are enough to save thousands of lives every year.
The more women who safely deliver their babies, the more women who experience the realities of infection avoidance in birth, the more women there will be who can help their sisters or neighbors or daughters to have safe births as well. The Clean Delivery Kit begins a cycle of health and well being that stretches much farther than the home it is used in. When women thrive, all of society benefits.
Help us to provide clean birth kits. http://worldwidehealinghands.org/donate.html
HOW DO CLEAN BIRTHING KITS WORK?
A Birthing Kit works by providing the SEVEN CLEANS for a clean birth:
1. Clean birth site – preventing delivery onto the floor
2. Clean hands – to prevent the birth attendant transmitting germs to mother and baby
3. Clean ties – to prevent bleeding from the umbilical cord for mother and baby.
4. Clean razor – to reduce infection caused by other implements
5. Clean gauze – to wipe away birth canal secretions from the eyes, which decreases future eye infections
6. Clean umbilical cord – washing and drying the stumps prevents infection
7. Clean perineum
