This Janma clean birth kit is designed and produced by Ayzh. The ‘Janma’ kit, meaning ‘birth’ in Sanskrit, is designed to ensure mothers in resource-poor areas have access to the necessary tools to complete a safe and hygienic birth. Zubaida Bai, Founder and CEO of Ayzh, was born in Chennai and developed the idea for the clean birthing kit after a midwife in rural India showed Bai the tool she used to cut umbilical cords – a sickle, also used for cutting grass. Having suffered from a post-delivery infection herself, Bai was inspired to create a life-changing product for women in need of low-cost, high-quality health products. With degrees in Engineering and Business, Bai founded Ayzh in 2009 to develop reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent products that meet the needs of women in places with substandard women’s healthcare.

Partially due to the lack of supplies available for safe birthing in these areas, a study published in 2019 found that, in 2017, 86% maternal deaths from preventable causes occur in low-resource countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with South Asia accounting for nearly 1/5 of the total, or 58 000 fatalities. According to a World Health Organisation (WHO) study from 2014, almost 11% of maternal deaths globally occur because of unsanitary birthing conditions. Women’s health and survival has since been prioritised under the 2015 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, making the Janma kit an invaluable design to help achieve the UN’s aims.

Conveniently packaged in a jute bag (that can later be reused as a purse), the kits hold a sterile underpad, surgical scalpel, umbilical cord clamp, and a bar of soap. The kit also includes an instruction card which employs a visual communication system to encourage key behaviours, like sterilisation, to prevent infection.

Bai ensured that the kit is affordable, with the basic core kit retailing at $3, or 150 rupees. The production and distribution of the kit was also considered holistically as part of the Ayzh business model. Local Indian women assemble the kits, which are then sold directly to health institutions and partners who then resell and distribute the kits to mothers. The product is also shipped via the India Postal Service, which can reach even the most remote areas of India.

After developing the product, Bai realised that a comprehensive system of education was also needed to ensure a clean birth, so Ayzh developed a mobile training programme to ensure the kits are used correctly. Bia has also been recognised by the United Nations as a Sustainable Development Goal Pioneer for her development of Ayzh’s products as well as her social business practices. Ayzh remains the only for-profit company that provides a set of products which address all critical needs of a woman's reproductive health.