Tech Inspirations
Ayzh
Need
A woman dies from complications in childbirth every minute. That leads to about 530,000 deaths every year, the vast majority of which occur in developing countries. A woman in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth, compared to a 1 in 4,000 risk in a developed country. Nearly 8 million babies die every year before or during delivery, or in the first week of life. Further, children whose mothers die in childbirth are 10 times more likely to die within two years of their mother’s death. Due to unsafe birthing practices, diseases such as HIV are spread to children at incredible rates.
Succeed Ayzh is a for-profit social venture providing health and livelihood solutions to impoverished women worldwide. Ayzh develops and provides unique, kit-style products that are both low-cost and easy to use for women in resource-poor settings. Ayzh launched its first product, JANMA, in 2010. JANMA is a clean birth kit that provides women all the components recommended by the World Health Organization for a safe and hygienic birth, and uses environmentally friendly and culturally appealing materials. They are also developing products such as a newborn kit, a postpartum hemorrhage kit, and a groundbreaking sanitation and hygiene solution for women. All Ayzh products are assembled and packaged by local women, and thereby create economic opportunities in the communities they serve. They sell to health-based businesses that target underprivileged women in both for-profit and nonprofit sectors, thereby providing Ayzh with the opportunity to achieve scalable access to its target beneficiaries.
Success Story Ayzh hires local women to package its first core product, JANMA components in a biodegradable jute bag that can be reused by new mothers as a purse. Ayzh launched JANMA, a $2-$5 clean birth kit, to help hospitals and nonprofit organizations prevent infection at time of birth and reduce maternal and infant mortality. The kit contains simple tools recommended by the World Health Organization to provide sanitation and sterility at the time of childbirth, which not only saves the lives of mother and baby, but also helps ensure a healthy and happy start to life
Zubaida Bai is the Founder and Director of Azyh. Her mission is to guide Ayzh to be Effective, Efficient, and Innovative. Zubaida was once of the silent victims with whom she now works. As a result of unsanitary birthing conditions, she contracted an infection that inflicted suffering for years. Now, Zubaida uses her passion and experience in the social development sector to help other women in that position. She became a TED India Fellow in 2009, obtained her MBA, and then spent five months in the field investigating birthing hygiene and education. It was from there that she came to invent the clean birth kit, Ayzh's first product. She is a member of the International Development Innovation Network and is an MIT D-Lab Fellow.