-
In the next six minutes
-
that you will listen to me,
-
the world will have lost three mothers
-
while delivering their babies,
-
one because of a serious complication,
-
second because she will be a teenager
-
and her body will not
be prepared for birth,
-
but the third only because of lack
of access to basic clean tools
-
at the time of childbirth.
-
She will not be alone.
-
Over one million mothers and babies
die every single year
-
in the developing world
-
only because of lack of access
-
to basic cleanliness while giving
birth to their babies.
-
My journey began on a hot
summer afternoon in India
-
in 2008
-
when, after a day of meeting women
and listening to their needs,
-
I landed in a thatched hut with a midwife.
-
As a mother, I was very curious
on how she delivered babies
-
in her house.
-
After a deep and engaging
conversation with her
-
on how she considered it a profound
calling to do what she was doing,
-
I asked her a parting question:
-
do you have the tools that you need
to deliver the babies?
-
I got to see her tool.
-
"This is what I use to separate
the mother and the baby," she said.
-
Unsure of how to react, I held this
agricultural tool in my hand in shock.
-
I took a picture of this,
hugged her, and walked away.
-
My mind was flooded with reflections
of my own infection
-
that I had to struggle with
for a year past childbirth
-
despite having access
to best medical care,
-
and memories of my conversation
with my father who had lost
-
his mom to childbirth
-
on how he thought his life would be
so different if she would have been
-
just next to him growing up.
-
As a product developer, I started
my process of research.
-
I was very excited to find
that there was a product out there
-
called the Clean Birth Kit.
-
But I just couldn't buy one for months.
-
They were only assembled based
on availability of funding.
-
Finally, when I got my hands on one,
I was in shock again.
-
I would never use these tools
to deliver my baby, I thought.
-
But to confirm my instincts,
I went back to the women,
-
some of whom had the experience
of using this product.
-
Lo and behold, they had
the same reaction and more.
-
The women said they would rather
deliver on a floor
-
than on a plastic sheet
that smeared blood all over.
-
They were absolutely right.
It would cause more infection.
-
The thread provided was a highway
to bacterial infection
-
through the baby's umbilical cord,
-
and the blade used was the kind
that men used for shaving
-
and they did not want it
anywhere close to them.
-
There was no incentive for anybody
to redesign this product
-
because it was based on charity.
-
The women were never
consulted in this process.
-
And to my surprise, the need
was not only in homes
-
but also in institutional settings
with high-volume births.
-
Situations in remote areas
was even more daunting.
-
This had to change.
-
I made this my area of focus.
-
I started the design process
by collecting feedback,
-
developing prototypes,
-
and engaging with various stakeholders
-
researching global protocols.
-
With every single prototype,
we went back to the women
-
to ensure that we had a product for them.
-
What I learned through this process
was that these women
-
despite their extreme poverty placed great
value on their health and well-being.
-
They were absolutely not poor in mind.
-
As with all of us, they would appreciate
a well-designed product
-
developed for their needs.
-
As many iterations working with experts,
medical health professionals,
-
and the women themselves,
-
I should say it was not
an easy process at all,
-
but we had a simple
and beautiful design.
-
For a dollar more
-
than what the existing product
was offered for,
-
at three dollars, we were able
to deliver Janma,
-
a clean birth kit in a purse,
-
Janma meaning "birth" contained
a blood-absorbing sheet
-
for the woman to give birth on,
-
a surgical scalpel, a card clamp,
a bar of soap, a pair of gloves,
-
and the first cloth
to wipe the baby clean.
-
All this came packaged
in a beautiful purse
-
that was given to the mother
as a gift after all her hard work
-
that she carried home with pride
as a symbol of prosperity.
-
One woman reacted to this gift.
-
She said, "Is this really mine?
Can I keep it?"
-
The other one said, "Will you
give me a different color
-
when I have my next baby?"
-
(Laughter)
-
Better yet, a woman expressed
that this was the first purse
-
that she had ever owned in her life.
-
The kit, aside from its symbolism
and its simplicity is designed
-
to follow globally-recommended
medical protocol
-
and serves as a behavior change tool
to follow steps one after the other.
-
It can not only be used in homes
but also in institutional settings.
-
To date, our kit has impacted
over 600,000 mothers and babies
-
around the world.
-
It's a humbling experience
to watch these numbers grow,
-
and I cannot wait until we reach
a hundred million.
-
But women's health issues do not end here.
-
There are thousands of simple issues
that require low-cost interventions.
-
We have facts to prove that if
we invest in women and girls
-
and provide them with better
health and well-being,
-
they will deliver healthier
and wealthier and prosperous communities.
-
We have to start by bringing simplicity
and dignity to women's health issues,
-
from reducing maternal mortality
to breaking taboos to empowering women
-
to take control of their own lives.
-
This is my dream,
-
but it is not possible to achieve it
without engaging men and women alike
-
from around the world,
-
yes, all of you.
-
I recently heard this lyric
by Leonard Cohen:
-
"Ring the bells that still can ring.
-
Forget your perfect offering.
-
There is a crack in everything.
-
That's how the light gets in."
-
This is my bit of light,
-
but we need more light.
-
In fact, we need huge spotlights
placed in the world of women's health
-
if we need a better tomorrow.
-
We should never forget that women
are at the center of a sustainable world
-
and we do not exist without them.
-
Thank you.
-
(Applause)