Club Assembles Birthing Kits
According to the United Nations, 60 million women give birth each year with the assistance of a traditional birth attendant or no assistance at all. In 1996, an estimated 585,000 women died
annually in childbirth with developing countries accounting for 99% of these deaths. The Zonta Birthing Kits provide for a clean birth that may decrease the risk of death from infection and bleeding. What started as a trial of 100 simple birthing kits to Papua New Guinea in 1999 has evolved into over 220,000 kits being sent to 26 countries through 30 organizations. Zonta clubs, Australia wide, assemble kits that are distributed to countries including Papua New Guinea, Afghanistan, Burma, Tibet, Tanzania, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Vietnam, Nepal, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Laos, Fiji, Solomon Islands, West Timor and East Timor.The contents of a Zonta Birthing Kit are:
- 1m x 1m square plastic sheet (for the mother to lie on)
- 1 piece of soap
- 1 pair of latex gloves
- 3 cords to tie the umbilical cord
- 1 scalpel blade
- 3 gauze squares
