[post_thumbnail size="550"]
Materials for birth kits waiting to be packed up in traditional scarf for carrying babies
Jungle Mamas has handed out 35 Safe Birth kits to Achuar women and community health promotors from the communities of Numbaimi, Kapawari, Pukuank, Mashian, and Warani. According to the Public Library of Science (PLoS), there is a strong connection between the practical use of safe birth kits and neonatal survival. In the study, which used a population sample of 19,754 homebirths, the use of a safe birth kit was associated with a 48% relative reduction in neonatal mortality.
In the Jungle Mamas program, we have been implementing the use of safe birth kits since 2011. So far, we have distributed 105 safe birth kits to women from approximately 20 communities throughout Achuar territory. Each kit comes equipped with the following materials:
- Post-partum Maternity pads
- Cotton baby blankets/diapers for swaddling and to measure how much blood is “too much” after birth
- String for tying the umbilical cord in preparation for the cut
- 2 pairs of surgical gloves
- Soap for hand washing prior to birth
- Sterile plastic sheet for maintaining a clean birth space and measuring how much blood is “too much”
- One candle to provide light during night births
- A traditional scarf for carrying the baby after birth
- 2 pairs of baby clothes for the first several months of life
In the workshop, the Achuar workshop facilitators taught how to use the birth kits during the enactment of what a safe birth looks like. For Achuar women, to receive a safe birth kit helps to alleviate much of the fear involved in giving birth. There was a female participant in the workshop who was especially grateful to learn about safe births and to receive a safe birth kit. She and her husband returned to her community with birth kit in tow, only to give birth and use the kit one day after the workshop!
Donate to Support Jungle Mamas
The Jungle Mamas program depends on the support of Pachamama Alliance donors like you. Consider a donation to support our continued partnership with the Achuar to develop healthy and thriving communities.
Donate To Jungle Mamas
