Innovation

Logonet is a Finnish contract manufacturer that produces the Finnish Baby Aid kit. The company has also been involved in producing the Finnish Maternity Kit, which includes products for newborns, for the past 15 years. The Finnish Baby Aid Kit is a concept that includes the kit, provided and manufactured by Logonet, as well as four antenatal check-ups and delivery at a health care facility, provided by Logonet’s partners. The concept aims to reduce maternal and infant mortality.

The Finnish Baby Aid Kit itself is a 2 in 1 kit: one of the kits includes clothes and hygiene products for the mother and the infant, and the other is for health care professionals to use during the mother’s labor.

The kit is used as an incentive to encourage pregnant women to access antenatal check-ups and controlled delivery by health professionals in a health facility. The kit can be modified for the needs of different countries and conditions and is suitable for use in extreme conditions such as refugee camps and other humanitarian crises. The kit is developed with the help of local authorities and medical and humanitarian aid experts, to guarantee that the kit responds to the real needs of women and infants.

Today Logonet has projects with its partners (e.g. the UN, NGOs, INGOs, local authorities) in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

Inspiration

In the 1930s and 1940s Finland was facing problems with high maternal and infant mortality rates. At that time the infant mortality rate was 90 in 1,000 live births, and the maternal mortality rate was 425 in 100,000 live births. In time, Finland decreased the mortality rates by investing in the health care system and creating a maternity kit for mothers. Today, Finland is one of the leading countries in terms of high-quality child and maternal health care, and the rates are respectively less than 2 and 3. The inspiration for the Finnish Baby Aid kit came as a result of Finland’s success story and the clear positive impacts of investing in health care and distributing maternity kits.

As many developing countries today are facing the same problems that Finland did in the 1930s and 1940s, Logonet built their concept with their partners around the belief that these problems are preventable and can be solved by simple methods. To put the idea into reality, Logonet contacted World Vision Finland five years ago to discuss possibilities and needs in developing countries. In order to distribute the Finnish Baby Aid Kit to health care clinics, Logonet started partnerships with different entities. The Finnish Baby Aid Kit is distributed through humanitarian organizations as well as through developing countries’ own maternal and child health programs. Today Logonet has projects in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia.

Overall impact

Logonet and their partners aim to decrease maternal and infant mortality rates, using simple solutions. Logonet, together with its partners, provides kits and services to all women in the areas where they operate. This is a way of demonstrating positive change and raising awareness of their results among local health care authorities. With the provided health services, high-risk pregnancies can be identified, and mothers’ and babies’ lives can be saved.

The kit works as an incentive for women to attend antenatal check-ups and to deliver their babies at health care facilities. The Finnish Baby Aid concept gives mothers the opportunity to have a healthy pregnancy and baby and ensures safe childbirth at a facility staffed by health care professionals. The Finnish Baby Aid kit has been welcomed by mothers and health care workers in their operating areas. The concept has already shown results. Logonet has been able to increase the number of women attending antenatal care and giving birth at health care facilities. Logonet with its partners has also been able to decrease the mortality rates in the project areas.

Business benefit

The Finnish Baby Aid Kit is a fairly new innovation and has only been produced for a few years. As the Finnish Baby Aid Kit innovation still is in an early phase, it has not generated a huge profit for Logonet yet. Through the follow-up of the implementation of the concept, Logonet continues to develop the kit. Logonet is still trying to promote the product to potential partners by bringing up the positive impact the Finnish Baby Aid Kit concept, together with improved health care standards, have had on maternal and infant mortality rates. The results of the innovation are promising, the number of women visiting the health care centers is increasing, and mortality rates are decreasing.

Although the Finnish Baby Aid Kit has not had a huge impact on the business yet, the plan for the future is that the Finnish Baby Aid Kit will be used as a part of health programs and projects in developing countries to decrease the mortality rates further. Logonet believes there is a huge possibility for a great impact on people's lives, and also business potential, and therefore they are currently promoting the product and concept to potential partners.

Social and environmental benefit

The Finnish Baby Aid Kit concept´s most significant societal benefit is the decrease in mortality rates for mothers and infants in developing countries. The impact this kit can make in developing countries is substantial. In the places where Logonet has taken the Finnish Baby Aid kit concept, there has already been a decrease in mortality rates during birth. With small but structured and coherent changes, The Finnish Baby Aid Kit concept has shown that it can save many lives in developing countries.

According to the UN Sustainability Goals, The Finnish Baby Aid Kit concept contributes mostly to good health and well-being (SDG 3) because its primary focus is to reduce maternal and infant mortality in developing countries. Approaches to promoting better reproductive health and rights include accessible quality health care and family planning services and incentivized use of health care services. Their actions empower women and promote gender equality (SDG 5). The achievement of SDG 3 and 5 (Gender Equality) is ensured through partnerships (SDG 17).

The future vision is to move production partly to developing countries to create workplaces for the local people, which would align with SDG 8 (Good Jobs and Economic Growth). Logonet is engaged in long-term investment to promote health, gender equality, and decent work for sustainable development.

Interviews

Mika Roini, Vice president and business development

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