Protecting
a baby’s first
1,000 days
Transforming
maternity and
paediatric
healthcare
The experiences and environments that shape a baby’s first 1,000 days – from conception to their second birthday – play a crucial role in determining their future health.
During this vulnerable stage of life, babies are exposed to harmful chemicals and plastic products such as disinfectants, plastic gloves and disposable gowns, all of which have safer alternatives. Exposure can lead to severe and lasting health issues, from chronic diseases to diabetes and even cancer, as babies’ defence systems are not yet fully developed.
We believe all babies should be born in healthcare environments free from unnecessary and harmful plastics and toxic chemicals – so that all children have a fair chance to thrive.
While the movement’s primary goal is to drive transformative change so that the next generation of babies is Born Green—free of toxic chemicals and unnecessary plastics—it will also reduce harmful waste and pollution, making the world healthier for everyone.
Our theory of change
Over the next three years, we’re embarking on a one-of-a-kind project to make toxic-free prenatal and postnatal care a reality. Delivered first in our partner’s hospital wards across Europe, our work sits across three pillars that will help drive transformational change:
How
it works
Building on the success of HCWH’s previous project, Towards plastic-free healthcare, we have engaged in a three-year collaboration with four healthcare providers and two universities from across Europe and the UK.
Alongside our partners, we will model and test the world’s safest maternity and paediatric wards as a pilot. This will involve training current and future healthcare professionals on the impacts of plastics and harmful chemicals and the ways to avoid them. The model will be continually tested, reviewed and improved, paving the way for others to build upon our work.
Through a wider awareness-raising campaign, our goal is to inspire societal change in support of improved environmental and human health.
The Born Green Generation Toolkit
Who
we are
Lead by HCWH Europe – an international NGO and a leader in the global movement for environmental health – we are a community of hospitals, healthcare professionals and parents protecting current and future generations from the harmful effects of plastics and toxic chemicals. By demonstrating that toxic-free healthcare is possible, we can make it a global norm.
FAQs
Together with our partners, our starting point will be to model and test the world’s safest prenatal and post-natal wards, piloting healthcare that phases out toxic chemicals and reducesharmful and unnecessary plastics.
We’ll train future and current healthcare professionals on the impacts of plastic and harmful chemicals and the ways to avoid them, and continually test, review and improve the model so it becomes an inspirational example for others to follow and build upon. Our goal is to ignite a powerful ‘ripple effect’, extending from our partner wards to other healthcare facilities and resonating into broader society.
Born Green Generation is a movement from Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) Europe, an international NGO and a leader in the global movement for environmental health and justice.
As the scale of our vision is huge, we cannot and are not doing this alone. You can find out more about our community and partners, here.
As the project gets underway, we welcome any new partner who wishes to join us. Healthcare organisations and professionals, parents and parents-to-be, or those with influence in healthcare legislation or product and systems design, can all have a role to play. You can find out more about how to get involved, here.