CleanBirth - Saving Mothers and Babies in Laos

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What I was thinking in October…

I am really interested in learning more about health and birth education for mothers in the third world. In Cambodia, one of the visiting western doctors that I met was really frustrated by the lack of pre-natal and post-natal care and education for women. Having no medical background myself, but a strong interest in seeing mothers succeed in bringing healthy babies into the world and keeping them healthy, I wanted to learn how to help.

Well… now I am learning. I am looking into birth doula and postpartum doula certification. I found DONA International, an association of doulas, which has a lot of information. I also found BirthWorks nearby in New Jersey. It just seems like a good fit: supporting women before and after they give birth through education and yoga.

CBK Info: MHTF “Clean Birth Kits Potential to Deliver”

Read this whole article!  I am just pulling out things that seem important to me.

Here’s the citation: Clean Birth Kits — potential to deliver? Evidence, experience, estimated lives saved, and cost.  Blencowe H, Lawn J, Graham W. Save the Children and Immpact 2010.  It is a 16 page paper, based on a March 25-6, 2010 meeting of a Technical Workshop on CBKs and “several recent scientific reviews.” (p.2)

According to this, one issue that seems to make evidence of the efficacy of CBKs hard to come by is that it is unethical to conduct a study of clean vs. unclean births.  Absent this hard evidence, however, the paper says, ” there is strong biological plausibility, and this is an accepted standard of care…” (p. 2)

“Around 1 million deaths per year may be related to unclean birth” (p 4.)

Conclusion for now, in light of need for more research (p.3).

Mother-held CBKs are highly cost effective and considered appropriate in conflict or humanitarian emergencies, or in settings where there is currently low coverage of facility birth, as long as they do not act as a disincentive for facility birth. If mother-held CBKS act as an incentive for facility care, wider promotion would be justifiable.


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