The Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia) is a humanitarian organisation that provides birthing kits and education in clean birthing practices to women birthing at home in remote regions of the developing world.
Annually, Rotarians and partners meet at the Rotary Shed to undertake the assembly of birthing kits. On arrival at the shed participants wash their hands and glove up in preparation.
The procedure is quite straight forward with each of the components (soap, gloves, gauze, scalpel & string) being added along the assembly line. The package is then rolled up and inserted in the plastic bag with the birthing sheet. The air is squeezed from the bag and then sealed. The completed birthing kits are then packed into boxes. The boxes are sealed ready for collection.
Birthing Kits are an internationally accepted intervention to support a clean birth. Each item in the BKFA Birthing Kit works to reduce infections at key high-risk moments of care during labour, birth and immediately post-birth for the mother, newborn and birth attendant.
The Clean Birth Kits are simple and effective tools for basic infection prevention and first-line childbirth care. Each component has been selected to support the 6 principles of cleanliness at birth for mothers, newborns, and birth attendants in high-risk and emergency settings.
All the birth kits are environmentally friendly. The plastic bag and sheets are treated with an organic compound and are biodegradable in microbe rich environments, such as landfill.