Summary

Program goals

In rural Kenyan communities, freelance birth attendants are often called upon to attend to a "home delivery." The general lack of sterility and hygienic instruments, such as clean water and a disinfected environment, greatly compromise infection control in such settings making home deliveries truly high-risk processes.

Key program components

The goal of this project is to develop a novel set of portable low-cost sanitary technologies that will tackle sanitary challenges in a traditional midwife's ever-changing work environment. The sanitary kit will be composed of hydrogel-based disinfectants, light-sterilized clay cord cutters, and solar-sterilized cotton fabric napkins. Use of the kit by birth attendants is expected to achieve substantial impact on preventing maternal and fetal infections and improve the quality of care during the delivery. The novelty of the individual sanitary technologies lies in the reformulation of primary natural products (bioactive plant/microbial extracts, clay powders, and cotton fibers) and using cutting-edge concepts (synthetic hydrogel polymers, photo-sensitive nanoparticles, and photo-acid generators) to deliver a final product with enhanced efficiency, uptake, acceptability, and sustainable use in low-resource settings. A clear set of milestones and identifiable deliverables (availability of hydrogel disinfectant, photo-sensitive fabrics and cord cutters for use; social perception and benefits technology) will be used to monitor progress, measure impact and evaluate outcomes.