PARIS, Sept 15, 2009 (AFP) - Celebrity model Naomi Campbell on Tuesday 15 September offered a Hermes "it" bag to help raise funds to fight deaths in pregnancy, which hit more than half a million women each year.

Photo: AFP/DDP/File/Dennis Gundlach

The iconic model handed over a pale green alligator Hermes "Birkin" bag to French auctioneers Artcurial who will put it up for sale November 10, with proceeds going to the White Ribbon Alliance for Safe Motherhood.

The international charity, launched in 1999, works to increase public awareness about the loss of life from pregnancy-related complications and to promote safe motherhood worldwide.

The bag, touted by a host of celebrities worldwide, was named after British-born singer and actress Jane Birkin, who sold her own in 2007 for 74,000 euros (108,000 dollars) donated to a human rights group -- an alltime record for a leather handbag at the time.

The Birkin is one of the French luxury baggage-maker's star products, seen hanging on celebrity arms and is a constant theme on television.

A Birkin featured in the final session of The Sopranos and is said to have been the bag of choice for Ruth Madoff, wife of disgraced Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff.