Zubaida Bai founded ayzh in India, based on the belief that every woman has the right to a safe birth and affordable healthcare. Since 2010, Zubaida has attracted clients and strategic partners from around the world, putting over 240,000 kits out into the market, all while putting health products into the hands of the women who need them the most.
With a background in mechanical engineering, and as a mother of three, Zubaida has aligned maternal health products with India’s commitment to accelerate action along the entire reproductive, maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health continuum, aiming to increase access to effective and affordable health commodities.
ayzh’s products, such as Clean Birth Kits, improve adherence to globally recommended best practices and reduce morbidity and mortality. In particular, Zubaida targets business-to-business sales toward health institutions where there is growing need for infection reduction and improved quality of care.
Zubaida recognizes that since women often manage the resources needed to care for family members’ health, their empowerment is vital to optimal health decision making. This is the reason behind ayzh’s ‘empowerment camps’, supported by Pfizer Foundation, which partners with health institutions in low resource settings to give women the information and confidence they need to understand global standards for childbirth, seek better care, and document their pregnancy journey through storytelling.
Furthermore, Zubaida is committed to gender equality in the workplace. Underemployed Indian women who package and assemble ayzh’s products benefit from consistent and meaningful employment opportunities. Today, Zubaida is poised to replicate ayzh’s existing production model across India through ‘regional expansion units’, helping India’s women access the maternal healthcare they both need and deserve, along with access to rewarding job opportunities.
To drive impact, Zubaida has forged partnerships with international businesses to facilitate new market entry and reach high priority communities, such as TOMs which donates one ayzh Clean Birth Kit for every woman’s handbag sold. Zubaida is a globally recognized business leader and speaker with awards and honors including: WHO Compendium of Innovative Health Technologies for Low-Resource Settings (2014); Girl Effect (2014); Every Newborn Action Plan (2014)
