A colourful collection of 12,250 hand knitted baby hats has been packed in Christchurch and is now ready to begin its journey to mothers and newborns in Ethiopia.

Dozens of volunteers spent the weekend sorting, vacuum packing and boxing the hats, which were made by hundreds of knitters and crocheters across New Zealand.

The hats will be distributed to mothers who give birth with midwives trained by Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia, helping keep newborns warm during their first hours of life.

The Hats for Hamlin initiative is run by Christchurch based charity Hamlin Fistula New Zealand.

Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia was founded more than 67 years ago by New Zealand doctor Reg Hamlin and Australian doctor Catherine Hamlin.

Since then, the organisation has provided specialist fistula treatment to more than 82,000 women while expanding access to skilled maternity care across Ethiopia.

Hamlin Fistula New Zealand fundraising manager Jayne Rattray said the hats provided practical support while also encouraging women in remote communities to seek skilled maternity care.

“These hats are so much more than a beautiful gift,” Rattray said.

“For many of the families Hamlin cares for, they are something parents simply couldn’t afford themselves.

“They help keep newborn babies warm during those critical first hours of life, plus the promise of a free hat also encourages more women to give birth with a trained Hamlin midwife.”

Rattray said choosing to give birth with a trained midwife could save the lives of both mother and baby, particularly in communities where women had traditionally given birth at home without skilled medical care.

Hamlin Fistula New Zealand chair Joli Wescombe has spent time accompanying Hamlin midwives in Ethiopia.

She said people were often surprised by how cold conditions could become in the mountainous country.

“Many of Hamlin’s midwifery clinics are located at elevations of 2,800 to over 3,000 metres, similar to Mount Ruapehu here in New Zealand,” Wescombe said.

“The labour rooms can be shiveringly cold. I remember one baby being born, steam rising from his tiny body into the freezing night air.”

She said many clinics had no blankets or electricity for heating, making a woollen hat essential for maintaining a newborn’s body temperature, oxygen levels and breathing.

“In difficult births, it can be the difference between life and death.”

Hamlin supports more than 90 rural midwifery clinics in Ethiopia, where more than 40,000 babies were safely delivered last year.

The organisation also operates six specialist hospitals treating women with obstetric fistula, a serious childbirth injury caused by prolonged obstructed labour without access to emergency care.

The injury creates a hole between the birth canal and the bladder or rectum, leaving women incontinent. It can also lead to shame, deepening poverty and social rejection.

More than 90 percent of women who suffer an obstetric fistula give birth to a stillborn baby, often following an obstructed labour lasting several days.

By improving access to skilled maternity care through trained midwives, Hamlin is working to prevent the injury before it occurs.

Organisers said every hat represented hours of generosity from someone in New Zealand and helped carry forward the legacy of Reg and Catherine Hamlin.

People can support the programme by knitting a hat, donating wool, contributing towards freight costs or making a donation.

More information and a free knitting pattern are available at www.hamlinfistula.org.nz/hats.