ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Zubaida Bai - Women's health advocate
Zubaida Bai innovates health and livelihood solutions for underserved women and girls around the world.

Why you should listen

Building on her expertise as a mechanical engineer, a social worker and her public speaking skills, Zubaida Bai put her unique passion to work. In the process, she built a brand and a product line, and she set in motion a movement that addresses market failures, breaks taboos and gives voice to the oft-ignored matter that is women’s health.

Bai is the founder and CEO of ayzh (pronounced "eyes"), a social enterprise based in India that designs vital healthcare products to improve the health and happiness of women and girls across their reproductive lives. Bai launched her company with janma, a $3 clean birth kit in a purse, but her story goes further back to when she stood by her mother to face head-on the challenge of survival facing her family when she had just entered her teens.

janma was conceived after traveling to one of the poorest communities in India and confronting the reality that more than one million mothers and babies lose their lives in the developing world each year due to uncleanliness at the time of childbirth. Packaged in a pink biodegradable jute bag, a design that mothers can reuse as a purse, the kit provides both cleanliness and dignity. Since beginning sales in 2012, Bai's company has sold more than 250,000 kits to more than 300 health institutions in 20 countries, touching the lives of more than 500,000 women and newborns. Bai is now expanding her product line to include kits for newborn, postpartum and menstrual health, while scaling her proven model across India and into Africa.

Bai was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Maternal Health Champion by Ashoka, a TED speaker (Fellow and Resident) and the United Nations SDG Pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). ayzh's strategic partners from around the world who have written about Zubaida's work: TOMS shared her safe birth story; USAID blogged about how she's empowering women through a simple purse; and Grand Challenges Canada recognizes her lead role in scaling life-changing kits for mothers and newborns.

Bai believes that building a sustainable company takes a great team, stamina and a sturdy suitcase. She is fluent in eight languages and travels the world forging new partnerships and advocating for women's health. She has spoken at events for Women in the World, Pfizer Foundation and Women Deliver. She holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering specializing in development of modular products, and an MBA in social and sustainable enterprises.

More profile about the speaker
Zubaida Bai | Speaker | TED.com
TED Residency

Zubaida Bai: A simple birth kit for mothers in the developing world

Filmed:
975,456 views

TED Fellow Zubaida Bai works with medical professionals, midwives and mothers to bring dignity and low-cost interventions to women's health care. In this quick, inspiring talk, she presents her clean birth kit in a purse, which contains everything a new mother needs for a hygienic birth and a healthy delivery -- no matter where in the world (or how far from a medical clinic) she might be.
- Women's health advocate
Zubaida Bai innovates health and livelihood solutions for underserved women and girls around the world. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
In the next six minutes
that you will listen to me,
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the world will have lost three mothers
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while delivering their babies:
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one, because of a severe complication;
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second, because she will be a teenager
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and her body will not
be prepared for birth;
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but the third, only because of lack
of access to basic clean tools
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at the time of childbirth.
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She will not be alone.
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Over one million mothers and babies
die every single year
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in the developing world,
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only because of lack of access
to basic cleanliness
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while giving birth to their babies.
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My journey began on a hot summer afternoon
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in India in 2008,
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when after a day of meeting women
and listening to their needs,
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I landed in a thatched hut with a midwife.
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As a mother, I was very curious
on how she delivered babies in her house.
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01:13
After a deep and engaging
conversation with her
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on how she considered it a profound
calling to do what she was doing,
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I asked her a parting question:
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Do you have the tools that you need
to deliver the babies?
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01:27
I got to see her tool.
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"This is what I use to separate
the mother and the baby," she said.
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Unsure of how to react, I held this
agricultural tool in my hand in shock.
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I took a picture of this,
hugged her and walked away.
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My mind was flooded with reflections
of my own infection
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that I had to struggle with
for a year past childbirth
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despite having access
to the best medical care,
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and memories of my conversation
with my father,
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who had lost his mom to childbirth,
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on how he thought his life
would be so different
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if she would have been
just next to him growing up.
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As a product developer,
I started my process of research.
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I was very excited to find
that there was a product out there
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called the Clean Birth Kit.
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But I just couldn't buy one for months.
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They were only assembled
based on availability of funding.
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Finally, when I got my hands on one,
I was in shock again.
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I would never use these tools
to deliver my baby, I thought.
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But to confirm my instincts,
I went back to the women,
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some of whom had the experience
of using this product.
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Lo and behold, they had
the same reaction and more.
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The women said they would rather
deliver on a floor
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than on a plastic sheet
that smeared blood all over.
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They were absolutely right --
it would cause more infection.
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The thread provided was a highway
to bacterial infection
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through the baby's umbilical cord,
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and the blade used was the kind
that men used for shaving,
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and they did not want it
anywhere close to them.
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There was no incentive for anybody
to redesign this product,
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because it was based on charity.
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The women were never
consulted in this process.
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And to my surprise, the need
was not only in homes
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but also in institutional settings
with high-volume births.
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Situations in remote areas
were even more daunting.
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This had to change.
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I made this my area of focus.
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I started the design process
by collecting feedback,
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developing prototypes
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and engaging with various stakeholders
researching global protocols.
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With every single prototype,
we went back to the women
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to ensure that we had a product for them.
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What I learned through this process
was that these women,
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despite their extreme poverty,
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placed great value
on their health and well-being.
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They were absolutely not poor in mind.
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As with all of us, they would appreciate
a well-designed product
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developed for their needs.
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After many iterations
working with experts,
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medical health professionals
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and the women themselves,
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I should say it was not
an easy process at all,
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but we had a simple and beautiful design.
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For a dollar more than what
the existing product was offered for,
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at three dollars, we were able
to deliver "janma,"
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a clean birth kit in a purse.
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Janma, meaning "birth," contained
a blood-absorbing sheet
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for the woman to give birth on,
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a surgical scalpel, a cord clamp,
a bar of soap, a pair of gloves
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and the first cloth
to wipe the baby clean.
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All this came packaged
in a beautiful purse
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that was given to the mother
as a gift after all her hard work,
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that she carried home with pride
as a symbol of prosperity.
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One woman reacted to this gift.
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She said, "Is this really mine?
Can I keep it?"
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The other one said,
"Will you give me a different color
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when I have my next baby?"
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(Laughter)
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Better yet, a woman expressed
that this was the first purse
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that she had ever owned in her life.
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The kit, aside from its symbolism
and its simplicity,
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is designed to follow
globally recommended medical protocol
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and serves as a behavior-change tool
to follow steps one after the other.
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It can not only be used in homes,
but also in institutional settings.
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To date, our kit has impacted
over 600,000 mothers and babies
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around the world.
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It's a humbling experience
to watch these numbers grow,
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and I cannot wait until
we reach a hundred million.
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But women's health issues do not end here.
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There are thousands of simple issues
that require low-cost interventions.
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We have facts to prove
that if we invest in women and girls
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and provide them with better
health and well-being,
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they will deliver healthier and wealthier
and prosperous communities.
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We have to start by bringing simplicity
and dignity to women's health issues:
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from reducing maternal mortality,
to breaking taboos,
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to empowering women
to take control of their own lives.
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This is my dream.
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But it is not possible to achieve it
without engaging men and women alike
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from around the world --
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yes, all of you.
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I recently heard this lyric
by Leonard Cohen:
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"Ring the bells that still can ring.
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Forget your perfect offering.
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There is a crack in everything.
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That's how the light gets in."
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This is my bit of light.
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But we need more light.
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In fact, we need huge spotlights
placed in the world of women's health
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if we need a better tomorrow.
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We should never forget that women
are at the center of a sustainable world,
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and we do not exist without them.
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Thank you.
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06:39
(Applause)
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▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Zubaida Bai - Women's health advocate
Zubaida Bai innovates health and livelihood solutions for underserved women and girls around the world.

Why you should listen

Building on her expertise as a mechanical engineer, a social worker and her public speaking skills, Zubaida Bai put her unique passion to work. In the process, she built a brand and a product line, and she set in motion a movement that addresses market failures, breaks taboos and gives voice to the oft-ignored matter that is women’s health.

Bai is the founder and CEO of ayzh (pronounced "eyes"), a social enterprise based in India that designs vital healthcare products to improve the health and happiness of women and girls across their reproductive lives. Bai launched her company with janma, a $3 clean birth kit in a purse, but her story goes further back to when she stood by her mother to face head-on the challenge of survival facing her family when she had just entered her teens.

janma was conceived after traveling to one of the poorest communities in India and confronting the reality that more than one million mothers and babies lose their lives in the developing world each year due to uncleanliness at the time of childbirth. Packaged in a pink biodegradable jute bag, a design that mothers can reuse as a purse, the kit provides both cleanliness and dignity. Since beginning sales in 2012, Bai's company has sold more than 250,000 kits to more than 300 health institutions in 20 countries, touching the lives of more than 500,000 women and newborns. Bai is now expanding her product line to include kits for newborn, postpartum and menstrual health, while scaling her proven model across India and into Africa.

Bai was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, a Maternal Health Champion by Ashoka, a TED speaker (Fellow and Resident) and the United Nations SDG Pioneer by the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC). ayzh's strategic partners from around the world who have written about Zubaida's work: TOMS shared her safe birth story; USAID blogged about how she's empowering women through a simple purse; and Grand Challenges Canada recognizes her lead role in scaling life-changing kits for mothers and newborns.

Bai believes that building a sustainable company takes a great team, stamina and a sturdy suitcase. She is fluent in eight languages and travels the world forging new partnerships and advocating for women's health. She has spoken at events for Women in the World, Pfizer Foundation and Women Deliver. She holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering specializing in development of modular products, and an MBA in social and sustainable enterprises.

More profile about the speaker
Zubaida Bai | Speaker | TED.com