Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia) is committed to enabling women giving birth at home a clean birthing environment.  They also work to set up training programs for traditional birth attendants and health workers.  They have projects in 20+ countries, including Vietnam, Ethiopia, Kenya, Afghanistan and Papua New Guinea.

I’m really interested in the training programs:

Training programmes were initiated in 2005 to complement the distribution of the Birthing Kits. These involved 3 – 5 day training sessions where Traditional Birth Attendants, Health Extension Workers, Village Nurses and health workers were educated in nutrition, general health care, midwifery and issues relating to HIV/AIDS prevention. These programmes were designed by the local people to meet their needs.

This is an incredible resource for anyone — like me –starting a Clean Birth Kit (CBK) project:http://www.path.org/files/MCHN_BDKG_Section_3.pdf

This is a searchable version:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38208259/Basic-Delivery-Kit-Guide

When I read it I will admit that I was totally overwhelmed.  How can I start a CBK  Program?   Answer: I will use the resource, work my butt off and somehow just do it.

Here’s some of what you’ll find:

• setting goals and objectives;

• research phases such as the comprehensive needs assessment, field trial, manufacturer’s survey, and market test; and

• determining kit contents and packaging. The section reviews the difference between essential and nonessential kit components. It also emphasizes the importance of limiting kit contents to minimize costs, ensure affordability, and maintain sustainability

Zonta has the mission of advancing the status of women and has more than 30,000 members worldwide.  

From the website:

Zonta International seeks to advance the status of women worldwide by improving the legal, political,economic, educational, health and professional status of women at the global and local levels through service and advocacy. With the generosity and collective action of Zontians and friends around the world, Zonta International has supported projects in 46 countries, provided scholarships and awards to women around the globe, and been a powerful advocate for change in our local and international communities, thereby transforming the world and women’s place in it.

ZONTA has made and distributed more than a half million kits to 40 countries since 2004.  Members and friends put them together on Assembly Days — with 40 volunteers 2000 kits can be assembled in 4 hours.

PATH strives to find “sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break longstanding cycles of poor health.”  One of their areas of focus is Maternal and Child Health.  Within this area of focus they have a program for supporting Safe Birth and Newborn Care, one such program is Clean Delivery Kits.  This latter link takes you to a page with an incredible wealth of resources (in the right hand column), including a Basic Delivery Kit Guide.  I am going to dig into that momentarily!

PATH has developed kits in Bangladesh, Egypt, and Nepal.  Their kits contain soap, plastic sheet, string for umbilical cord, razor blade and picture  intructions.

Here are some results:

Recently we quantified the positive impact of another delivery kit on women’s and children’s health in Tanzania. The study, conducted with funding from the United States Agency for International Development through PATH’s HealthTech program, involved more than 3,200 participants. Results suggest that women who used the kit were substantially less likely to develop genital tract infections. Their infants were substantially less likely to develop cord infections.

On manufacture and distribution:

In Egypt, we helped community health promoters develop a plan to use kits as an income-generating activity that would contribute to their health programs. In Nepal, we gave a local, woman-owned business a head start: the campaign we funded promoted the kit via wall paintings, advertisements, street dramas, and training for community health volunteers. Within one year, sales increased from 28,800 to 46,800 kits, contributing to the long-term stability of the company. Maternal and Child Health Products, Ltd, continues to make kits available to Nepali women at prices they can afford. Between 1994 and the end of 2005, they sold more than a million kits.

MHTF has a specific working group focused on Clean Birth Kits.  I kept finding this site as I was researching.  I have to admit that envisioning a small org myself, I often get irrationally overwhelmed by the big gals.  Which is absurd.  Big world. Lots of need to go around.  And the resources available through MHTF are amazing.

So this working group, led by people from MHTF, IMMPACT (see post here) and SNL (Saving Newborn Lives), met 6 or so times last year.  They have some presentations, papers, findings available here.  Great resource!  Now to read through them all… Stayed tuned.