Warmth in Afganistan

The single most dangerous day of a child’s life is the day that they’re born. This product with a mission is keeping vulnerable low-birth-weight and premature infants safe and warm.

Over 20 million low-birth-weight and premature babies are born every year around the world and over four million die within their first month of life. The biggest problem? Temperature regulation. The good news? This week’s AWB grantee has developed an innovative and cost-effective solution. Enter the Embrace infant warmer.

Embrace is a social enterprise aiding millions of vulnerable babies with the infant warmer (pictured above) that costs a fraction of the price of existing solutions, works with or without electricity and is portable, safe, and incredibly intuitive to use. The mini sleeping bag design stays at a constant temperature for up to six hours, maintaining premature and low birth weight babies’ body temperature to help them survive and thrive. Embrace’s first project in the Middle East launched in April 2013 at Rabia Balkhi Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan, where infant and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world.

The results so far have been astounding! In the first three months, Embrace has provided side-by-side training to nearly 200 mothers and healthcare workers and served over 1,700 infants.

The AWB team sees a tremendous opportunity to expand Embrace’s work in providing affordable and accessible solutions to prevent hypothermia and impact the lives of babies around the world. We’re thrilled that this grant will purchase more infant warmers to deliver to Rabia Balkhi Hospital and contribute to the narrowing of a huge inequity gap in global health.

To learn more about this amazing product with a mission, watch THIS. Then visit embraceglobal.org and follow Embrace on Facebook and Twitter.