Baby Basket For Healthy Mothers

Did you know that 1 in 16 mothers in sub-Saharan Africa die during labor when no health care worker is present to assist with the delivery?  Despite the fact that obstetric complications can be prevented with quality pre-natal and emergency obstetric care, and skilled attendance at delivery, they are the leading cause of death for women of reproductive age in developing countries.

IntraHealth has worked in Rwanda for nearly two decades to address its health care challenges, including one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world.

The Healthy Mothers/Welcome Home Baby Basket is an incentive initiative to encourage women to seek prenatal care and deliver their babies in a health care facility. Having a midwife, nurse of physician at birth overwhelmingly increases the chances of survival for both mother and baby.

The basket itself, given after the baby is delivered, will be a container that can be re-used to transport water and wash clothes and will include simple but essential items to support the continued health of mother and baby.

• Flannel sheets (as Rwandan mothers must bring their own bedding for the delivery and for wrapping the baby following birth)
• Plastic wraps to surround the baby’s cloth diapers
• Clean wrap skirts for mother and flannel cloths for baby to wear home
• An umbrella to shield from the hot sun
• Bar of Soap for hygiene for mother and baby
• A t-shirt for the baby that says (in Kinyarwandan, the local language of Rwanda), “I was born in a health facility” to help spread the word about the importance of delivering in a health clinic.

Each gift basket costs $60.

 

IntraHealth International. Innovative, wise, far-reaching, and successful.

Give a generous gift today.

To download a brochure about this initiative, go here.