CleanBirth - Saving Mothers and Babies in Laos

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Doing it for the moms…

Tahoy MothersSometimes, I get bogged down in the to-do list type stuff.  Even though the cause is so near and dear to my heart, some days I think less about the moms we serve and more about fundraising or the logistics of getting kits and training materials to Laos.

That’s ok.  That’s my job.  But today it was nice to take a minute and look into the women’s faces.

Natalie, CleanBirth.org volunteer extraodinare, who oversaw the resupply of kits and attended a Village Volunteer training in December, sent this picture of 3 moms who used the kits we supplied.

Looking at the faces of these women, seeing the bundles wrapped safely in their arms, I remember that this is why I do what I do.

This is why so many people have gotten involved, through volunteering and donations.

These women are faced with real danger when they give birth.  They have many older children depending on them.  We need to give them education and supplies to make each birth as safe as we can.

That’s why we do what we do.  That’s why you give what you can give.  We thank you.  They thank you!

 

Read about us on World Moms Blog

Here’s an excerpt from my article, appearing in today’s World Mom’s Blog:

The training of the last group, Village Volunteers, is particularly exciting.  The nurses we train about Clean Birth Kits and safe birthing practices, have begun passing their knowledge to women from each remote village.

The nurses explain how to use and distribute the Clean Birth Kits, as well as how to track their use with a picture data sheet.  They cover topics like safe pregnancy, the importance of having a partner during delivery (many women birth alone) and the importance of exclusive breastfeeding.

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Photo provided by CleanBirth.org

A government representative who attended the Village Volunteer training in December 2013 was impressed and said, “We need more of these trainings throughout the Province.”  That kind of validation from the government isessential to scaling up the project.

Read the whole post here http://www.worldmomsblog.com/2014/01/07/social-good-cleanbirth-yale-university-empower-local-nurses/

 

Global Handwashing Day!

Clean Hands Save LivesOne of CleanBirth.org’s main objectives is to prevent infection. Our AYZH Clean Birth Kits give moms everything they need for a hygienic birth.

While handwashing before delivery may seem so obvious, it is has not been the historical practice.

We have Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor, to thank for changing that. In 1847, Semmelweis proved statistically that the incidence of puerperal fever, aka childbed fever, could be drastically reduced by enforcing hand washing standards for OB doctors and nurses.

Thanks Dr. Semmelweis!  No go wash your hands!

Giving Birth Lao Style: Part 2

newmomIf we want the families we serve to accept the AYZH Clean Birth Kits, it is crucial that they feel that their beliefs are respected and that they are able to comply with traditions surrounding birth. Studies, which I will talk about in a post tomorrow, show that lack of respect for cultural mores is a leading reason women chose not to birth at a clinic.

Our goal is to have a CleanBirth Volunteer in each village who will give women birth kits and explain the importance of having hygienic birth.

Since the Volunteers are from the same villages and share the same traditional beliefs and practices, we hope that they will convey the information in a culturally appropriate way.

Here are some of the traditional practices prevalent in Laos, according to the UNFPA report “Cultural Beliefs and Traditional Rituals about Childbirth Practices in Lao PDR.”

Preparation

Many families did prepare items like sarong, nappies, baby clothes, rope, ginger, herbal medicine, boiled water, wood, and bamboo bed.  Yet others feared advanced preparation:

“I did not prepare anything for my baby. I was told by the elderly that I do not need to prepare anything in advance for my baby. It is believed that it will be a stillborn or death of the uterus.” (New mother, 24 years old)

During Labor

This report revealed that during labor mothers and husbands took care of the laboring mother, applying herbal medicine and eggs on the abdomen to make labor and delivery easier.  Laboring women drank coconut milk.
“I used a herbal medicine called “Wane” which I put in the water, and I used this water to put on the head of my wife which could lead to an easy labor and reduce the pain during labor.”
(Husband, 32 years old)

Another husband said, during labor,

“I used the water “Nam Mon” [water that has been blessed with sacred words]

when I take a bath and it is believed that my wife will have an easy birth.” (Husband, 27 years old)

Cutting the Cord

Most umbilical cords were cut using a bamboo called “Mai Ka See” or razor blade. Some mentioned that they used alcohol to wash the razor and they used a black or white rope to tie the umbilical cord. After giving birth, the baby was given a bath and then placed on the bamboo bed beside the mother.

“I used to cut the umbilical cord using a sharp bamboo piece (tew may phai) because I did not have a delivery kit. I think it was clean and safe, and it was easy and available in our community. Based on my experiences, there were no cases of umbilical tetanus with the use of “tew mai phai”.” (Traditional Birth Attendant, 58 years old)

Postpartum

As discussed in yesterday’s post, postpartum practices are specific and culturally important.

“According to the ritual practice, the postpartum women had to sit on the banana leaf with salt for about 40 minutes in order for wounds to get heal quickly. After that, the women had to take a hot bath with herbal medicines before staying on the hot fire, drink about four pots of hot herbal medicine mixed with water, and also, take hot baths early in the morning without cleaning the skin for two weeks.”
(Mother, 50 years old)

Breastfeeding

Newborns are routinely given water after delivery out of fear that they baby is thirsty and to protect again jaundice and conjunctivitis.  There was a belief that the mother did not have enough breast milk.

“After delivery, I suggested they feed the baby water or honey using clean cotton soaked with water or honey, which is then softly pressed onto the lips of the baby because the mother was not ready to breast feeding yet.” (TBA, 58 years old)

Family Planning to Save the Lives of Girls

 

contraceptgirlToday I participated in a World Contraceptive Day Chat on Twitter.  I listened to the research-based information about the need for family planning in the world to save the lives of women.

And I must weigh in.  If only for the fact that 1 in 3 girls in the world has a baby before 18 and that childbirth and pregnancy are the leading cause of death for girls 15-18 worldwide.

Look at the face of this girl that I met in Laos and tell me that she is old enough to have 2 children.

In my culture, in my religion (Catholic) this a very controversial topic.  But how can we in good conscience condemn young girls to a fate that we as women in the US had the choice to avoid.  I’m not talking about an unwanted baby, I am talking about young girls dying in childbirth because their bodies just weren’t ready for motherhood.

Children of adolescent parents

In the US girls are able to get free contraception.  They have the education to read, to know where to go, and to understand how to take a pill.

This girl above could have use help, advice, access to trained nurses to guide her.  She had none of these.

Girls should have the right to choose when to have a baby.  Watch this video to hear more.

They should have the right to choose what to do with their lives. Because having a baby at 14 has a huge impact on what a girl can do with her life.

Family planning enables girls to delay 1st pregnancy and stay in school longer.  Here’s research based findings from Advocates for Youth:

Young women with low levels of educational and economic attainment often experience restricted ability and motivation to regulate their fertility, resulting in higher rates of early pregnancy. The cycle is further perpetuated as young women who are in school are forced to discontinue their education when they become pregnant, greatly restricting their economic opportunities.

Young women with higher levels of education are more likely to postpone marriage and childbearing.3

Children of adolescent parents not only face an elevated risk of illness or death; they are also more likely to be abandoned, left to live on the street, and caught in a cycle of poverty.4,2

Family planning allows girls in Laos to stay alive.  According to the World Bank, in Laos 1 in 74 women will die in the course of their lives from childbirth.  In Italy this number is 1 in 20,300.

 

Here’s more research-based facts from Advocates for Youth:

Adolescents age 15 through 19 are twice as likely to die during pregnancy or child birth as those over age 20; girls under age 15 are five times more likely to die.[2,6,7]..

  • Infants of adolescents are at increased risk for death. In fact, the infants of adolescent mothers are more likely to die before their first birthday than are the infants of older mothers.[10]

  • Complications during childbirth account for almost 25 percent of newborn deaths.[11] Preterm delivery and low birth weight are other reasons for deaths among infants born to adolescent mothers.[10]

While CleanBirth.org does not work directly in areas of family planning, we should support our nurses to teach young women to know and understand their bodies and their choices.  No child should lose her life giving birth, when such a tragedy is entirely preventable.

 

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