Save the Children brings workable solutions to the daunting problems that face the world's mothers as they care for their children. Women often marry while they are still adolescents and begin childbearing early, sometimes before their bodies are fully mature, leading to increased risk of pregnancy complications.
Many villages are remote, far from government health posts, which are often poorly equipped.
Women in Nepal give birth to an average of five children, and less than one-third use family planning. Most give birth on old mats, straw, or the bare floor. The newborn's umbilical cord is generally cut on wood or a coin, with ash, dried cow dung, or spider webs applied to the cord stump. It is no surprise that infections like tetanus are common in infants and in new mothers. Designed to lower the risk of infections in mothers and infants during childbirth, the kit contains a plastic sheet, a razor blade, string ties, a plastic disk for cutting and string for tying the umbilical cord, and a simple instruction sheet.