Pampers Gift of Life

Imagine this:  You’re heavily pregnant with your fifth child and are living in Africa.  You’re not living in a flat or a lovely house with running water.  You’re living in a hut with a dirt floor, difficult living conditions and less than hygienic medical clinics which are hours away over challenging terrain.  You go into labour.  There’s no one to help you so you go it alone, give birth, cut the umbilical cord with as clean a knife as you can find.  One of the rituals of your tribe is to rub the soil, which happen to be full of germs, dung and ashes, into the umbilical cord of your newborn child.  Unbeknownst to you, your precious newborn baby is immediately infected with tetanus, a deadly disease caused by bacteria that lives on dead and decaying matter in soil, animal dung and faeces, usually begin with the contamination of an open wound.

When the bacteria enter an open wound they begin to work as a nerve toxin (poison), affecting the central nervous system and causing painful and uncontrolled muscle spasms. Tetanus can cause one of the most painful deaths known to man.  Newborn tetanus strikes rapidly. A newborn infected with tetanus may appear perfectly healthy. Symptoms usually appear from three days after birth, when the baby’s jaw and facial muscles may tighten due to the tetanus poison. The baby’s mouth will continue to grow more rigid so that it becomes “locked” (thus the name “lockjaw” given to tetanus) and the newborn will no longer be able to breastfeed. The newborn’s body may stiffen or arch and he or she may convulse when stimulated by light, sound or being touched. Finally, the newborn may no longer be able to breathe and will therefore die.

Maternal and newborn tetanus are completely preventable through immunisation and hygienic birth practices. Tetanus Toxoid (TT) is a safe and inexpensive vaccine that not only protects women of childbearing age against maternal tetanus for three years but also passes on protection through maternal antibodies via the placenta to their babies. Two doses of the tetanus vaccine are needed to protect the woman and any baby born to this woman during a 3 year period. The baby is protected for its first 2 months of life.

A newborn receiving their first tetanus vaccination

I had the honour of attending a very special press conference in London on Monday where some amazing UK bloggers were privy to the launch of the 2009 Pampers-UNICEF campaign for maternal and newborn tetanus vaccinations.  Natascha McElhone, star of the films “The Truman Show”, “Ronin” and “Solaris” and the hit US television show “Californication”, is the 2009 celebrity spokesperson for the Pampers-UNICEF campaign.  She shared her experiences after visiting Angola earlier this year.  Natascha comments, “As a mother in the UK, I’ve never had to think about the devastating effect of tetanus. However I was shocked to learn that it is still killing thousands of mothers and their babies in less industrialised countries. Once newborn tetanus has been contracted there is no real cure and within days of exposure it can lead to a fast and painful death. I am proud to be supporting the Pampers-UNICEF campaign to help eliminate newborn and maternal tetanus and give these women and their babies a chance to live a happy, healthy life”.  Natascha shared some amazing stories about the conditions these proud and brave African woman are enduring and was even present during labour and delivery of some babies.  The reason the African women had made it into the health clinics was due to the unending efforts of the “social mobilisers” (health visitors) who work tirelessly and voluntarily to educate and inform the Angolan women of the dangers of unhygienic birth practices and the vital importance of the tetanus vaccinations both for mother and baby.

Natascha McElhone, Pampers-UNICEF spokeswoman

Pampers has joined forces with UNICEF for the fourth year running as part of its ongoing dedication to helping eliminate maternal and newborn tetanus by 2012.  Since the start of the campaign in 2006, thanks to the support of mums in the UK and around the world, Pampers has provided the funding for a life-saving dose of the Tetanus vaccine for a mother and her baby every two seconds. This amounts to over 200 million tetanus vaccines donated to UNICEF.  This year, together with the support of UK mums, Pampers is hoping to raise the funding for a further 100 million vaccines to help UNICEF eliminate this deadly disease history.

You are now probably wondering, “what can little old me do”?  Well, it’s immensely simple.  During the months of October, November and December of 2009, for every pack of Pampers nappies and/or wipes purchased with the logo “1 pack = 1 life-saving vaccine”, Pampers will provide the funding for one life-saving vaccine to help protect both mother and baby.  That’s it!  All you have to do is buy a pack of Pampers nappies or wipes with the logo “1 pack = 1 life-saving vaccine” and you have effectively saved a life.  “Uh, pardon me…we don’t use Pampers!” you say?  Well, guess what?  Maybe for a month, you could?  Or maybe you could buy a pack for a friend who does use Pampers!  And if you really can’t use Pampers nappies, go for their wipes!  That will count as well.  It couldn’t be simpler, really.  What are you waiting for?

In addition to purchasing nappies and wipes, you can feel free to donate through www.pampers.co.uk or better yet, click on the badge below my RSS coffee cup feed button.  You’ll be immediately re-directed to the Pampers-UNICEF campaign page to make a donation for an amazing cause.  And if you’re really feeling generous, YOU’LL PASS IT ON!  Pass on “the gift of life” to your friends, family, acquaintances, bloggers, random strangers.  Encourage them to donate by setting an example and challenging them to do the same.  If we all make a little extra effort in the next three months, that goal of 100 million vaccines and elimination of tetanus by 2012 will be obliterated.  Give the gift of life this year; make a difference.

Despite the fact that it is completely preventable through an inexpensive vaccination, over 128,000 babies in less industrialised countries will not live to see their first birthday every year due to the disease and it’s not just babies – thousands of women will also die from maternal tetanus.

To make a donation towards the Pampers and UNICEF tetanus campaign that will help to reach more children around the world or for further information about the campaign please visit www.pampers.co.uk or www.unicef.org.uk/pampers

Natascha McElhone & the Midlands Bloggers

Natascha McElhone admiring the Lovely Little Miss

Little Miss & her amazing Godmother enjoying the press conference

Natascha McElhone sharing her experiences