Birthing Kits - providing a clean and safe birth

A Clean Birth Kit is a simple and effective tool for basic infection prevention and first-line childbirth care. These kits are distributed by our global partners, for use in humanitarian crisis and under-resourced settings. Here is a recent testimonial from World Vision Australia:

In remote communities across north-western Afghanistan, clean birthing kits are helping pregnant women and midwives to facilitate the clean and safe delivery of newborns. Atefa is a 19-year-old woman living in the Enjil district of Herat province. She studied midwifery with the support of World Vision Afghanistan, and is proud to share that, “I am the only midwife of my community.”
 
With the help of World Vision Australia and KIT International, the Health Houses are now stocked with clean birthing kits to facilitate clean delivery. Prior to the provision of birthing kits, disinfection of birthing materials was a typical part of the delivery process. Atefa reflects that in between births, “it took time to wash the fabrics with boiled water or do disinfection of [the] materials.” Beyond this, pregnant women were often supported by Traditional Birth Attendants in their homes, who “used non-sterile items such as dirty cloths, razors and threads to give birth. This caused women to become infected [and also] caused newborn infections,” shares Atefa.
 
With the provision of support from KIT International and World Vision, Atefa is able to ensure the cleanliness of the birth environment for mothers and newborns. “The birthing kit not only protects the baby from being infected… [it also] saves time, which is highly critical during medical emergencies such as birth-related procedures,” Atefa says. “[Clean birthing kits] have has made our work easier, and the women are also comfortable and feel safe during the delivery.”
 
Cleanliness and ease of use of the birthing kits has encouraged greater numbers of women to attend the Family Health Houses for delivery and pre- and post-natal support.