For every bag TOMS sell, they give a birth kit containing necessities critical for helping to ensure a safe birth. Dr. Shira Shafir has gone on "Giving Trips" with TOMS to Ethiopia, Bangladesh, and Haiti for the program and shares his story.
When Blake first told me about the TOMS Bag collection, and the need for a give that matched it, it gave my small team in Social Innovation and Impact a chance to put our brains together and research a "give" that was both impactful and matched the beautiful collection of TOMS Bags.
As always, we started with the need. We spoke to experts in global health and many potential Giving Partners tackling issues of huge importance. With this information, my team landed on one that we are extremely passionate about: the need to improve maternal health.
Infection is a leading cause of death among new mothers and babies worldwide; and the field of maternal health has an enormous need for advancement. However, with clean birth conditions and skilled birth attendants, nearly half a million lives can be saved each year (Source: UNFPA & Every Newborn Action Plan, 2014).
As I continued to learn about this need, the Social Innovation team researched birth conditions around the world, learning that 40 million women give birth in unclean birth conditions, and without the help of a skilled birth attendant -- that's more than the entire population of Canada.
A staggering 99 per cent of maternal deaths occur in developing countries, and most are preventable with the proper training and materials.
It was through this that we were able to determine our give: With every bag you purchase, TOMS will help provide a safe birth for a mother and baby in need.
Purchases of TOMS Bags help our Giving Partners distribute birth kits which contain materials essential to help women and babies avoid infection during birth. And even more importantly, these purchases support training for our Giving Partners' networks of local health workers on safe birth practices. Community health workers, who are trained as skilled birth attendants, visit expectant mothers in their communities to monitor their pregnancies and help them prepare for birth.
Our Giving Partners in maternal health bring so much support and joy to mothers and families; I couldn't be more proud to be involved in this journey with TOMS and am beyond excited to see how much of an impact we can make together through our TOMS Bags.
