Each year, 2.6 million children die before they are one month old. A further 200,000 women die during pregnancy or childbirth. Most of these deaths can be easily prevented if the women know how to minimise their risks, and if infants and mothers get the right healthcare at the right time.
St John is meeting the urgent health needs of pregnant women, new mothers and infants in Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe through its Mother and Baby Programme. We encourage women to be active in getting the healthcare they need and to safely start their journey into motherhood. At the same time we extend the reach and effectiveness of the public health services.
Within six years of launching our Mother and Baby Programme in 2014, the programme has reached over 110,000 primary beneficiaries. Pregnant women, new mothers and men have all enrolled in the programme and received support and advice.
More than 460,000 community members have received health education on maternal and newborn health, highlighting the needs in the minds of the community, particularly men. In addition, 350,000 community members were provided with clinical consultations in hard-to-reach areas, where they would not normally seek healthcare.
Our programme has also seen the percentage of enrolled women who exclusively breastfed for six months after birth increase significantly in Uganda and Zimbabwe, with the numbers almost doubled in Zambia and Malawi.
World Breastfeeding Week 2021: Our Mother and Baby Programme in Malawi, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe is continuing in its 6th year with great success. Read more
St John Malawi’s Mother and Baby Programme, supported by the Scottish Government, aims at improving maternal, newborn and child health by increasing access to health care services. Read more
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