The clean-delivery kits contain inexpensive materials that fit into a box about the size of a deck of cards. They include soap for hand-washing, plastic sheeting to provide a clean delivery surface, a bit of string to tie the umbilical cord and a new razor blade with which to cut the cord. The kits also include detailed illustrated instructions that help explain the birthing process.

 

PATH initially introduced the kits in Nepal, and they found that women there were generally appreciative and excited about them. PATH attempts to take cultural differences into account when creating the kits for a particular region, so that women will be more likely to accept them. For instance, in Nepal it is traditional to cut the umbilical cord along a coin for good luck, so the kits include a clean plastic rupee to stand in place of an unsanitary metal coin.

 

PATH has worked hard to ensure that the clean-delivery kits are affordable for those who need them, and the group continues to work with local aid organizations and small businesses that sell or distribute them. The cost varies per region, but the aim is to keep them affordable – and freely distribute them in areas where people are the most desperately poor. Currently, sales in Egypt and Nepal stand at about 46,800 kits per year, and between 1994 and 2005, PATH had overseen the sale of more than 1 million of the tiny, life-saving boxes.