A Global Connection Supports the Clean Delivery Kit Project
Every child deserves a healthy beginning. Every woman deserves a safe delivery.
Tanzania has the eighth highest number of maternal deaths in the world: a woman dies from complications of pregnancy and childbirth almost every hour in Tanzania. An estimated 99% of maternal deaths occur In developing countries with over half of these in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania has the fifth highest number of maternal deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa, with infections being one of the leading causes, in addition, the unavailability of basic supplies and equipment, trained staff, and adequate transportation are endemic.
The vast majority of these tragic deaths happen not only in remote areas but the slums as well. Almost all of them are preventable and treatable. Water is often limited and does not allow for adequate cleanliness, leading to infection. In other cases, the lack of training of traditional birth attendants in providing clean and safe deliveries contributes to the death toll.
Women living in remote areas are often unable to walk the distance to a clinic before going into labor, giving birth on the side of the road under a tree or bush. For that reason, many women opt to deliver at home where the risk of infection and often death is high. Clean Delivery Kits provide these women with the opportunity to have a cleaner and safer delivery by equipping them with essential supplies.
Imagine a baby or a mother surviving because of a simple kit all for less than the cost of coffee and dessert at your favorite coffee shop! Clean Delivery Kits are inexpensive and often life-saving.
Each kit costs $10.00 and contains:
- One underpad that provides a clean surface for mother to lie on during childbirth.
- Two pairs of Latex gloves to reduce disease transmission.
- One scalpel or single edge razor – essential for clean cutting of the umbilical cord.
- One bar of antiseptic soap to clean the birth attendant’s hands before delivery and before cutting the umbilical cord and to clean the mother’s perineum.
- Two disinfectant pads.
- One seven-hour burning candle (for areas where there is little to no light).
- Two pieces of umbilical tape 12″ long for tying the umbilical cord.
- Two 3×3 inch sterile gauze pads.
- One flannel receiving blanket to swaddle the baby.
- One beanie cap for baby
- pictorial instructions.
- one-gallon plastic bag contains the Clean Delivery Kit and is used afterward to hold the placenta ready for safe disposal.
Available upon request:
- Rapid HIV testing kit to determine quickly whether an expectant mother is HIV positive
- Misoprostol used for controlling postpartum hemorrhage after home births
- Six sanitary pads and mesh panties
- Headlight for home deliveries where there is no electricity
Contact us for more information on how you can support the Clean Delivery kit project.