mom bloggers are blogging for life

Guess what? Bloggers for Birth Kits is flying thanks to you! As of earlier today we've had nineteen blog posts helping to spread awareness, over 35 tweets getting the word out, and - most importantly - 190 birth kits donated! And that is only over a three-day period.

Wow.

There must be other women out there that agree that 1 in 7 women dying in childbirth is just. not. right.

Clean birth kits can be the difference between life and death for women in rural Papua New Guinea and other developing nations... and they cost $2.00 to make. Yes, I said $2.00.

Seriously, life is worth so much more than $2.00.

If you haven't yet jumped on board, it's not too late! Why not consider making or sponsoring a birth kit for a woman in a developing nation this Mothers Day? A $10 donation sponsors five kits!

Do it on behalf of your mom. Do it on behalf of your Granny. Do it for your daughters. Do it for yourself.

Blogging, giving, tweeting, facebooking... There are several ways you can get involved. They're all detailed here.

Here's a video explaining more, including how to actually put together a birth kit yourself. (Fast-forward to midway if you only want to hear the how-to segment.)



I really do believe that our collective voice can make a difference. Thank you for believing that with me!


Dear friends, have you exercised your voice yet? You are powerful and can help save lives. How about a creative and charitable Mothers Day gift for your mama? (Details here.) It's not too late to donate on her behalf (or on behalf of some other special lady in your life)... and it's not too late to blog for this great cause!

honoring moms with the gift of life,


P.S. Nearly a year after the Memos was born... I finally started a facebook fan page. Please "like" the Memos here... if you'd like! :)

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

bloggers for birth kits: help reduce maternal mortality

Every minute a women dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths occur in developing nations.  For every woman who dies in childbirth, another 30 women incur injuries and infections, which are often preventable. (Source: World Health Organization.)

Chances are if you’re a mother reading this blog, you are not one of them. Most likely you delivered your baby safely and hygienically in a hospital, birth center, or possibly even at home under the expertise of an experienced midwife. (Unless you are Amy who delivered hers on the side of the road!)

No doubt you had access to doctors, nurses, midwives, and other medical professionals throughout your pregnancy, delivery, and postnatal care, as well as access to drugs and medication and surgical procedures when necessary.

But hundreds of thousands of mothers around the world aren’t as lucky as you.

The organization that my husband and I volunteer for (YWAM Medical Ships) regularly sends teams of volunteer doctors, dentists, optometrists, ophthalmologists, nurses, midwives, educators, and other volunteers to address the needs of the poor in Papua New Guinea. (This is where Ryan is now.) We provide dental services, eyeglasses, cataract surgeries, vaccines, primary health care, education, and other crucial services to those who most need it.

{my friend and coworker, jennifer perry, distributes birth kits to women in rural papua new guinea.}

We have campaigns going all over the world to gather toothbrushes, toothpaste, eyeglasses, and other medical supplies… but we are running desperately low on birthing kits.

This is where you come in.

Bloggers for Birth Kits is a simple initiative from the Mommyhood Memos to rally bloggers to reach out and help other moms in Papua New Guinea. These moms may live in a different nation to you, speak another language, look a little different, or have a very different lifestyle… but they are mothers with the same heart. Mothers who desire to deliver healthy, happy babies just as we do. (The idea was born out of this post: Four Healthy Mamas, Four Healthy Babies as well as the positive feedback I got from other bloggers in the comments, emails, and tweets that ensued.)

Because in rural Papua New Guinea... 1 in 7 women die in childbirth and that rate is simply unacceptable.


There are plenty of resources in the world to help these mothers and babies... they just need to be collected and redistributed.

So why not consider giving back from what you’ve received in order to help another mom deliver her own baby safely?

It’s so easy to make a difference. Here’s a few ways that you can get involved:

1. Make a birth kit of your own and send it to us. We will distribute it within the poorest regions of Papua New Guinea through the YWAM Medical Ship. (Instructions on assembly below.) Mail your kit to: 
    Bloggers for Birth Kits c/o Adriel Booker
    YWAM Ships
    PO Box 6221
    Townsville, QLD 4810
    Australia

2. Make a donation to YWAM Medical Ships designating Bloggers for Birth Kits in the comments section and we will assemble/distribute a kit on your behalf. $10 can provide five mums and babies with kits. All funds go directly toward supplies and distribution.

3. Blog about this initiative and rally others to join in the cause.

4. Display the Bloggers for Birth Kits badge on your blog. 

<a href="http://themommyhoodmemos.blogspot.com/2011/05/bloggers-for-birth-kits-help-reduce.html" target="_blank"><img alt="The Mommyhood Memos Bloggers for Birth Kits" src="http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m223/adrielmc/bloggersforbirthkitslogo125.jpg" /></a>

5. Share this post with others. Tweet this post using the hashtag #B4BirthKits, link to this post on your facebook, or email this post to friends and family, church and social groups that you think might be interested in getting involved.

How to make a birth kit:


According to the Birthing Kit Foundation birth kits are very simple, containing six basic items:

• 1 plastic sheet (approximately 1m x 1m or 1 yard x 1 yard) – for a clean birthing surface; to prevent mother and child from coming into contact with the floor or ground
• 1 bar of soap – for clean hands; to prevent the birth attendant from transmitting germs to mother and baby; for cleaning the stump to prevent infection
• 1 pair of plastic gloves – for clean hands; to prevent the birth attendant from transmitting germs to mother and baby
• 1 sterile scalpel blade – for a clean cut of the umbilical cord
• 3 cords/pieces of strong string (24cm or 10 inches long) – for clean ties for the umbilical cord (with an extra string included just-in-case); to prevent bleeding from the umbilical cord from mother and baby
• 5 gauze squares – to wipe secretions from the baby’s eyes and mothers perineum

If you’d like to assemble one yourself, it’s simple. Just gather the above items, prepare a clean surface, wash your hands thoroughly, and assemble the items into a normal sized ziplock bag. The idea is that the kits are small enough to pack in large quantities (space is incredibly limited on our ship) and simple enough to not deter women who are accustomed to very little medical services and who often are illiterate.

Since I am not purchasing supplies in bulk, my kit cost me a total of $3.10 to make at home – still a very minimal price for the chance at life! 


This vlog is a demonstration of how to put a birthing kit together. (Listen to the story at the beginning, or fast-forward to the middle for step-by-step instructions for assembling a kit yourself.)

Dear friends, please let me know if you’d like to participate. Leave me a comment below (include any questions that you have) and make sure that I have your email address. Let’s get started immediately!

in support of moms everywhere,



Update May 10, 2011: In six days we've had 637 kits donated/sponsored, 37 blog posts, 200+ links on facebook (I lost track after that), and tons of tweets. Absolutely incredible. Well done ladies (and gentlemen)! You ARE making a difference by giving and by spreading the word. Thank you.


Note: Photos courtesy of YWAM Medical Ship's I Want to Live campaign in Papua New Guinea. 

adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2011
do not reproduce without written permission

four healthy mamas and four healthy babies... and many not so lucky

Last year three of my friends and I all planned to have our babies naturally with the assistance of a midwife through our local birthing center. All four of us ended up needing to be transferred to the hospital and having medical interventions for four difference sets of reasons.

As difficult as it was in each case, we emerged with four healthy mothers and four healthy babies.

I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if we did not have access to the amazing health care that is available to us in Australia.

What if we had labored—just a two-hour plane trip away—in the neighboring nation of Papua New Guinea?

Would we still have four healthy mamas with us today?

And would those four healthy mamas still have four healthy babies?

Imagine this scenario:

“The floors are crowded with women waiting to have their babies, or cradling the ones they have just delivered, because there are not enough beds. In the delivery room, flimsy curtains afford no privacy or dignity. The toilet is a bucket by the bed. The vinyl mattresses where they labour are worn through, soiled foam bursting through the cracks." (Source: A mother's life, by Jo Chandler, The Age, September 7, 2009.)

{Mothers in PNG sit on the floor after delivery due to a lack of hospital beds. Photo credit: Jason South}

That is part of the reason why my husband and I have been volunteering with an organization called YWAM for the last 10 years... Because knowing that 1 in 7 women in rural PNG die in childbirth is just not acceptable… Because the resources are out there and just need some redistribution... Because we believe that willing people (both skilled and unskilled) can make a difference—very practically—in other peoples lives.

As we work to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates in Papua New Guinea (as a part of the Millennium Development Goals), we reach out into neighboring nations to bring primary health care, dentistry, optometry, and mother and child health care.

Here is a personal story (first published here) from one of our volunteers—RN/Midwife Jenny Sutherland—in August of this year:

Yesterday we were halfway through our morning clinic when word came that a woman in a neighbouring village had given birth to one twin, but the second was not coming.  A small team of us arrived there with some difficulty, as we climbed up slippery logs and made our way into an incredibly poverty-stricken shack, where this labouring woman was on a bamboo floor, upon which we had to choose our steps wisely or fall through.

She had not a thing under her and her newborn baby girl was semi-wrapped in a dirty looking cloth nappy. The umbilical cord tied was tied with bamboo, but the baby was looking well. The woman had been pushing since the morning before, with Twin 1 born at 1am. When we arrived the unclamped cord was hanging out.  Due to finding it difficult to find a fetal heartbeat on the unborn twin and given the mother's deteriorated condition, we decided to transport her to a local clinic, not certain whether either of them would live through this.

We carried the woman on a stretcher through calf-deep mud and onto the Zodiac (which is used to carry patients to and from the YWAM Medical Ship).  The voyage took 4 hours and despite the difficulties, this woman never whimpered once.  Frightened and exhausted, she had seemingly no interest in the baby she had birthed and had not fed her yet.  We encouraged her to feed the baby girl on the journey though, and to our delight she had a great feed and slept the rest of the trip, sheltered by some donated birthing kit bunny rugs, a cloth nappy and the strong arms of one of our manly engineers whose heart was taken for this baby girl!

We arrived at the clinic and were amazed to hear the healthy heart beat of the unborn baby. After bringing on labour again, with one push, out came a healthy baby girl! The labouring mum finally smiled - her life saved and two sweet baby girls safe in her arms.

Dear friends, have you ever stopped to think about the fact that we are blessed with incredible health care facilities and trained professionals, unlike so many women throughout developing nations? Is your birth story one that may have turned out differently if it weren’t for the resources available to you? When's the last time you stopped and gave thanks that you and your baby are simply alive?

counting my blessings,



P.S. If you’d like to know more about our work and how you can get involved in making a difference to the people of Papua New Guinea and beyond, please check out YWAM Medical Ships or email me.

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adriel booker | the mommyhood memos | 2010 
do not reproduce without written permission