Maternal & Child Health

Birthing Kits is an on-going project that started in 2019 and it is funded by Birthing Kits Foundation Australia and just as the name implies birthing kits is used during delivery. The importance of this kit is to prevent maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity amongst pregnant women and to enable safe pregnancy along with clean childbirth.

Birthing Kits are a simple and effective tool for basic infection prevention and first-line childbirth care. In accordance with global best practice, the kit contains only the essential items required to support the principles of cleanliness at birth for mothers in high-risk and emergency settings.

WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA recommendations include:

• The use of a clean delivery surface
• That the eyes of the baby are wiped clean
• That clean ties and a clean blade should be used to tie and cut the cord.

According to WHO, maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman while pregnant or death within 42 days of termination of pregnancy irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.

In Nigeria, the estimated maternal mortality ration is over 1000 maternal deaths per 100000 live births with approximately 58,000 maternal deaths.

In view of the above GCCYF as an active advocate for maternal and new born health distributes Birthing Kits to facilitate access to basic, clean supplies for childbirth for the world’s most vulnerable and hard-to-reach women and communities.  

The Birthing Kit contains the following:

• GLOVES:  for clean hands and helps prevent the spread of HIV and other infections between care-giver and recipient.
• PLASTIC SHEET:  to prevent the mother and newborn coming into contact with the ground or an unhygienic surface
• SOAP:  to wash the birth attendant’s hands and the mother’s perineum
• CORD TIES:  to tie the umbilical cord
• GAUZE: To wipe clear the newborn baby’s eyes and to clean the mother’s perineum prior to giving birth
• STERILE BLADE:  to cut the umbilical cord cleanly and reduce risk of newborn sepsis and tetanus.