Over 150 youth and adults from the Brisbane North Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently assembled 1,000 birthing kits for their Mormon Helping Hands Day project.
Working in conjunction with the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia, participants donated their labour, and the Stake provided the funds for the kits, which cost about $3 each. Each birthing kit contains one plastic sheet, one pair latex gloves, three cords, one sterile scalpel, five gauze pads, and a bar of soap.
The Foundation assists women around the world who for reasons of isolation, cultural choice, or poor transport have little or no assistance during childbirth.
Most of the kits are sent to Asia or Africa, where the need is greatest. The kits will save lives. Lifetime risk to a woman of maternal death in these countries is as high as 1 in 15. The overall average is 1 in 27. By comparison, in Australia the average is less than 1 in 8,000.
For every woman who dies, another thirty experience infections or injuries, many of which are painful, disabling, embarrassing, and lifelong.
An estimated 385,000 women throughout the world die annually in childbirth, many from preventable infections. By providing a clean birthing kit, these mothers will have the resources to reduce infection.
After receiving instructions from Foundation representatives, Mormon Helping Hands volunteers worked diligently together in small teams until all thousand kits were done. Once the kits are distributed, the Foundation will let the volunteers know where they end up.
For more information on the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia click here.