On the second day at Shanti Birthing Center I met Neil Powell from New York advertising agency BMB. An unexpected encounter considering where we were. Neil was there with his father handing out Information Blankets to hundreds of women. These women walked miles from surrounding villages to the birthing center to receive these blankets.
Neil Powell from advertising agency BMB.
This initiative is beyond amazing. In a simple and visual way, the blankets educate new mothers and guide them through protecting and raising a newborn. New moms can lay their babies on the blanket ensuring growth rate is on track, have information on hand about breast-feeding frequency, vaccination scheduling and know illness warning signs. The blankets are made from double knit US cotton and printed using vegetable dyes.
So simple. So effective. So amazing. This will be my gift for new mothers moving forward.
In North America you can purchase these blankets at http://theinformationblanket.org/. The cost is $60 which gives you a blanket (printed in English), and gifts an Information Blanket to a young mother in Uganda.
I love this movement so much. I love that I was here to see the women who will be receiving these blankets, and I love that I got to meet the person behind it.
Photo Credit: @infoblanket
Photo from http://theinformationblanket.org
