In a joint project with Zonta International, CQUniversity campuses have hosted volunteers assembling thousands of birthing kits destined for remote villages in Papua New Guinea.

The simple kits contain all the necessary items for a clean safe birth, which Zonta believes is the right of every woman.

Volunteers at Rockhampton Campus were part of a wider effort across CQUniversity's network

There's a plastic sheet (for the mother to lie on), a piece of soap, latex gloves, cords to tie the umbilical cord, a scalpel blade and gauze squares, all within a sealed plastic bag.

The statistics are staggering; one in seven women in rural PNG still die in childbirth, many from infection, tetanus and haemorrhaging.

Around the world, half a million women die annually. For every woman who dies in childbirth, around another 30 women (15 million) incur injuries and infections, many of which are often painful, disabling, embarrassing and lifelong. 

The kits will go a long way to changing these statistics and raising awareness of the dangers that women across the world in remote and rural communities face during childbirth.

CQUniversity supports Zonta's vision for a world in which all women have access to safe birthing practices, regardless of race, religion, culture, history or socio-economic status.

From Left: Bree Bester, Kaitlyn Tass, Elise Davey and Hannah Wilson gather to help at the Mackay Campus

The Birthing Kit Foundation (Australia) has administered the Zonta Birthing Kit Project since 2007. The work of the Foundation has been funded by grants from AusAID, and donations from Zonta clubs and many groups and individuals.

More information is available at http://www.birthingkitfoundation.org.au/