Introducing Clean Delivery Kits to Improve Knowledge of Clean Birth Practices in Haiti

Maternal and infant mortality rates in developing countries are significantly higher than rates in developed countries with sepsis contributing to mortality. Cleanliness at birth has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a key element to reducing the risk of maternal-infant morbidity and mortality. There is evidence to support the importance of clean birth practices and use of clean delivery kits (CDKs) to promote improved maternal-infant health outcomes. The purpose of this quantitative study was to evaluate an intervention providing CDKs and clean birth education to examine the effect on knowledge and understanding of clean birth practices among women in Grand Goave, Haiti. A total of 18 Haitian women of childbearing age were enrolled in the study. The hypothesis of the study stated that maternal education of clean birth practices and use of the CDK contributes to improved knowledge of clean birth practices. Evaluation of the intervention showed that provision of a CDK with the educational intervention was associated with improved mean scores of the pre-and post-test surveys (N=17, pre-test summary mean=6.35, post-test summary=7.71, p=0.000). The role play evaluation further indicated that there was a knowledge improvement of use of the CDK and clean birth practices. An educational intervention with use of a CDK can improve knowledge in relation to clean birth practices and use of CDKs are vital to improving maternal-infant outcomes in low resource settings