CleanBirth - Saving Mothers and Babies in Laos

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Simple Checklist to Prevent Maternal/Infant Deaths

Acording to this article from Impact, http://www.psi.org/impact-magazine/2012/05/can-simple-checklist-make-child-birth-safer, checklists have cut surgical deaths in half.  Makes alot of sense for birth.

PSI/India has joined a team led by the World Health Organization, Harvard School of Public Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and many others who are asking whether checklists can significantly reduce the nearly 5 million maternal and infant deaths a year associated with childbirth.

PSI/India and partners have assembled a 31-item list of reminders, from the simple – asking the mother’s companion to be present at the birth – to precise clinical signs of infection and hemorrhage. Their aim over the next three years is to test it in India to see whether childbirth-related harm, including death, in institutional deliveries can be significantly reduced through adherence to essential childbirth-related clinical care standards.

My CBK Project: Getting Clean Birth Kits Funded

Today I raised $160 for clean birth kits in Laos vis a vis a tag sale in my parents front yard.  Simple, old-school fundraising with some craigslist and twitter mixed in.

The fact that kits are so affordable ($5 p/kit) means that every $5 trinket sold brings me closer to the goal of $2,000 total needed for kits and training.

I am excited to be moving forward!

My CBK Project: Educational Context, Saravan, Laos

I am researching the province of Saravan, Laos where I am collaborating with Village Focus International.  I found these education stats from MiVAC, which works in many countries, including Laos, to clear landmines/ UXO.

A MiVAC delegation visited Saravan and reported about education, among other things.

Laos has bleak educational stats as a whole: 2,000 villages without schools, 55% kids complete primary school, 45% of primary schools are complete, 3.2 teachers/primary school.

Saravan’s stats are worse:

1. 17,590 grade 1 students
2. 5,076 grade 5 students (grade 5=completion of primary school)
3. 26% of primary schools are complete
4. 2.3 teachers/primary school
5. 34.9% of students repeat grade 1

There are 14 minority groups in Saravan. Rarely do the teachers and students speak the same language.

Helping Babies Breathe Initiative

The more I learn about clean birth kits and their usage, the more I understand how trained attendants are critical to the survival of moms and babies.

One amazing program that I have learned of is Helping Babies Breath.  This program trains midwifes, doctors,  nurses, and “in certain circumstances” traditional birth attendants in  neonatal resuscitation.  Here’s more:

The Curriculum

Helping Babies Breathe is a neonatal resuscitation curriculum for resource-limited circumstances. It was developed on the premise that assessment at birth and simple newborn care are things that every baby deserves. The initial steps taught in HBB can save lives and give a much better start to many babies who struggle to breathe at birth. The focus is to meet the needs of every baby born.

The Golden Minute®

Helping Babies Breathe emphasizes skilled attendance at birth, assessment of every baby, temperature support, stimulation to breathe, and assisted ventilation as needed, all within “The Golden Minute” after birth.

This article from USAID on The Golden Minute® is also worth a read.

 To reach five years, though, a child must take his or her first breath of life in the first minute following birth. The World Health Organization estimates approximately one million babies die each year from birth asphyxia, a condition in which babies who do not breathe on their own immediately following delivery.

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