Project Description:
We believe that women and infants should not die because they lack medical care, birthing supplies and education.
Yet, a mother dies every minute from pregnancy and birth related complications: 99% in the developing world, 90% preventable.
CleanBirth.org seeks to prevent these deaths in Laos, where the maternal and infant mortality rates are among the highest in the world. In the villages where we work, women and babies
die at even higher rates, due in part to their practice of birthing alone in the jungle.
In partnership with Our Village Association (OVA), a Lao non-profit,
CleanBirth.org trains village nurses in the use and distribution of AYZH Clean Birth Kits (birthing supplies which
prevent infection). Further, we fund nurses’ trips to remote villages to distribute the kits and conduct “Safe Birth Outreach," a curriculum aimed at making birth safer.
CleanBirth.org has trained four district nurses in Tahoy District, Salavan Province, Laos. Now, for the period April-December 2013, these nurses need 1,000 birth kits and funding for
distribution and “Safe Birth Outreach."
Our goal is to enable these nurses to protect the women and babies they care for, by giving them supplies and educational funds necessary to make birth safer.
CleanBirth.org History
Following a MA from Yale, Kristyn Zalota focused on projects that empower women in the developing world. From 2008-2011, she worked with Burmese, Cambodian and Ugandan women and saw that prenatal and postnatal care was largely unavailable.
While researching the issue, she discovered the effectiveness of Clean Birth Kits and Laos' tragically high rates of maternal and infant mortality. She partnered in 2012 with Lao non-profit Our Village Association (OVA) to bring Clean Birth Kits and education
to southern Laos.
In addition to partnering with experts in Laos, Kristyn has sought out committed Board Members. Max Zalota, Treasurer, holds an MBA from Oxford University and has extensive business experience. With over a decade of experience in corporate communications,
Jenny Fourace formulates CleanBirth.org’s public relations strategy. Shannon Lawton-O'Boyle, doula and Lamaze childbirth educator, promotes CleanBirth.org’s innovative baby shower products.
Further, CleanBirth.org has attracted a vibrant group of volunteers. In the US: Ariana Thibodeau heads up media production; Marla Katz is a teen-fundraising dynamo; Karen Helburn of
Just Hatched advises on baby shower products. In Laos’ capital Vientiane, Kelly Phoninsan, Imogen Matthews and Kelley Gary Khamphouxay help fundraise; Valerie Baumal of
Anakijo Designs generously donates a portion of her sales.
