Profile - Nadine Cornier

Nadine Cornier is UNHCR's Reproductive Health Officer. Based in Geneva, she oversees the implementation of UNHCR’s Safe Mother and Baby Programs in refugee camps throughout the world.

Do you see a lot of women dying in childbirth in refugee settings?

We get many refugee mothers and babies dying simply because the women don’t have access to the absolute minimum healthcare. And sometimes it’s not that the service isn’t there, it’s that they don’t know that they can access it or it’s not seen as a priority. You really don’t need to provide that much to make a huge difference in this area.

Can you give an example?

In Chad there were a lot of babies who were dying because of tetanus. Chad is a very dusty desert place. The women were delivering in this dusty environment and using the traditional practice of putting mud on the cord after it was cut to dry it. Many cultures do this – use either ashes or mud – and it is very bad for infection and diseases like tetanus. We have had to work in two ways: firstly, to educate the women that this practice is dangerous for babies and secondly, to distribute our Clean Delivery Kits so that they can deliver in a cleaner environment.

What does the Clean Delivery Kit contain?

It's a plastic bag with a razor, soap, plastic sheet, string for the cord and a clean swaddling cloth. And it contains pictorial information for the woman and the family. You tie the cord this way; if the baby isn't breathing, you can do this; if the woman is bleeding, you have to take her to hospital etc.

What has been the impact of the Clean Delivery Kit?

They have two impacts: first, the woman delivers in a clean environment; and second, it is a motivation for women to attend the clinic. It’s amazing at the antenatal clinic to see all these women coming in with babies wrapped in these cloths. Each consignment has cloths of one colour – orange say - and in the morning you see all these orange wrapped newborns coming in. It's a motivation for the other women. They can see that these mothers have used their kit and have come for heir follow-up checks.