Pregnant Mother and Baby Kits in Disaster Response: The Case Study of 2018 Floods in North of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Pregnant mothers and neonates represent two important vulnerable groups in the aftermath of disasters. During population displacement due to floods in the North of Sri Lanka in 2018, there was a need to provide pregnant mother and baby kits to the affected pregnant mothers close to delivery and neonatal kits for the infants. This case study describes the efforts of the health sector in the provision of pregnant mother and baby kits with the support of well-wishers in the aftermath of floods. The need for pregnant mother and baby kits and the lack of prepositioned kits were reconfirmed. A list of items in the pregnant mother and baby kit was obtained. The necessary items were procured through voluntary subscription by well-wishers and assembled into kits in Colombo. Twenty-five maternity and neonatal kits procured and gathered through the voluntary subscription by volunteers were dispatched to the affected areas within 24 hours of the receipt of the request. The above action was mirrored by the Asia Pacific Alliance for Disaster Management (APAD). Stockpiling pregnant mother and baby kits even in small numbers in hospitals, getting into a memorandum of understanding with suitable stakeholders for urgent supply in disasters, and family level preparedness to take with them the pregnant mother and baby kit during flood evacuation are recommended.