Save the Children ranks the places in the world where women are most likely to die as a result of childbearing.
Here is the low down compliments of Save the Children. P.S. the US isn’t in the top 10 — 31 actually.
Maternal Health: TBAs in Guatemala
This is an article about the controversy surrounding training TBAs. TBAs attend 60% of Guatemalan births and up to 90% among certain groups. However, statistically, training TBAs has not led to the prevention maternal deaths. Since TBAs are often the only choice and are preferred by ill-treated indigenous populations, this subject has hardly been laid to rest.
To me, it seems like CBKs and TBAs are a good fit, since CBK trainings should be simple and straightforward.
My CBK Project: Who needs CBKs?
I’ve been thinking about starting a women empowering non-profit for a decade. I honed in on CBKs in January. My life — kids, teaching yoga, doula work — has prevented me from spending as much time as I’d like getting down to it. But I’m ready now.
Don’t get me wrong, I love nothing more than thinking about what country I will head to next. I have read guide books, blogs, US State Dept blogs on numerous destinations. But it’s not as easy as picking a country. I want to make an impact and to do so the project must be a good fit.
I had a great experience volunteering for Shanti Uganda — my strengths and experience were just what they needed. Read about it here. I want to make sure that my CBK project advances the mission of the organization that I will supply.
I have in mind Central America. There is need. It is warm, close to the US and Spanish speaking. Nicaragua in particular gets decent marks for safety, which matters to me since I will be bringing my kids eventually. Guatemala, which gets poor safety marks, has some very interesting maternal health programs, such as Clinicas Maya.
The other country that I have thought of is Laos, which last year graduated its first class of midwives in 20 years. Article here. Having spent nearly two years in neighboring Thailand and traveled somewhat extensively in Laos, I have a feel for the place. Again weather good; safety better than Central America. However, I have yet to find a small organization working with women. Most work seems to be driven by the Ministry of Health. And it’s a long and expensive flight.
I will keep learning about effective CBK projects already in place, while researching potential organizations/clinics that may be open to a CBK project.
CBK Organizations: Bodhi Tree
Bodhi Tree provides clean birth kits (CBKs), as part of their health and nutritional education programming in the Bodhgaya region of India. They do academic and vocational training as well. Check them out.
CBK Organizations: PSI
PSI does a ton of amazing work. In the area of Reproductive Health, they have had some great success:
In 2009 alone, PSI prevented an estimated 3.5 million unintended pregnancies and over 17,000 maternal deaths, and enabled millions of couples to plan their families.
Clean Delivery Kits are just one of the many reproductive interventions offered by PSI. PSI offers clean delivery kits in Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Uganda.
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