Mother's Day and Bloggers for Birth Kits

Mother's Day is Sunday, May 13 (only three weeks away!) and I found a wonderful way to honor all the mother's in your own life as well as those around the world.  Adriel at The Mommyhood Memos is doing a Clean Birth Kit drive to help save the lives of mama's in developing countries around the world.  Below is an excerpt from her blog on the subject.

Clean birth kits can save lives

Did you know that a simple clean birth kit can help save a mom’s life? Did you know that for around $2-3 you can assemble one? Did you know that everything you need to make one can be found easily and quickly at your local hardware store and pharmacy?

Look how simple these clean birth kits are…

And yet, even in their simplicity, they can mark the difference between life and death for a woman unable to get to a regional clinic for birthing her baby.

Clean Birth Kit specifics

1. Soap (for the birth attendant to wash her hands). Use a hotel-size soap or cut a regular bar of soap into 1/8-sized pieces. (Microwave the bar of soap for 30 seconds to soften it for cutting).

2. One pair of plastic gloves (for the birth attendant to wear).

3. Five squares of gauze (to wipe the mum’s perineum and baby’s eyes). Gauze pieces should be about 10×10 centimeters or 3×3 inches.

4. One blade (to cut the cord). You can buy individually wrapped sterile blades at the pharmacist or buy utility blades (much cheaper) at the hardware store. We teach the women to boil the blades for sterilization, so utility blades work just fine.

5. Three pieces of string (2 for tying the cord, 1 for “just in case”). String should be about 30 centimeters or 10 inches long.

6. One plastic sheet (for a clean birthing surface). Sheet should be approximately 1×1 meter or 1×1 yard and can be purchased at your hardware or paint store.

7. One sandwich-size ziplock bag (to pack the contents).

Will you join me?

This year, in honor of Mothers Day, will you join me in making a difference in the area of maternal and infant care in the developing world by contributing to our clean birth kit drive?

How to get involved in Bloggers for Birth Kits:

1. Make a birth kit. Assemble one yourself or gather a group of girlfriends, a moms group, work associates, or a church group to make a box full of them! Mail your kits to: Adriel Booker, Bloggers for Birth Kits, PO Box 6221, Townsville, Queensland, 4810, Australia

2. Donate for a birth kit to be made on your behalf. ($10 will buy 5 kits!) All donations for B4BK go toward the assembly and distribution of kits, as well as maternal care education. Make your online donation here. Please be sure to write “Bloggers for Birth Kits” in the box that says “additional comments” so the funds will be allocated properly!

3. Help raise awareness by posting about the cause on your blog, facebook, pinterest, and twitter. (Please use the hash tag #B4BirthKits!)

4. Add the Bloggers for Birth Kits button to your blog. (See the side bar for code.)

You can also watch this video that I made last year. (Feel free to repost it or link to it.) During the first part I tell the story of how B4BK was born, and from the 3-minute mark you can see step-by-step instructions for how to assemble your own kit.

P.S. Wondering what to get your mom for Mothers Day?

If you’d like to give your mom (or granny or another special woman) a meaningful gift this Mothers Day, consider making a donation to B4BK on her behalf. I will email you a personalized printable that you can include in her card. Here’s last year’s card:

Make sure when you donate online that you put the following in the comment/note section of the form: Bloggers for Birth Kits, to Gwen (your mom’s name) from Adriel & Ryan (your name), 10 kits. (This example is for a $20 donation. Please donate in increments of $10 only – 5 kits for $10, 10 kits for $20, 15 kits for $30, etc.)

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this and please (please!) consider donating your time or money to helping save the lives of other mama's around the world.