Providing safe transport and nutrition training for new mothers in central Malawi
We’re supporting African Vision Malawi (AVM), a charity which provides healthcare and sustainable feeding programmes, to boost nutritional training and improve transport to a maternity unit.
Challenges for rural mothers
Access to healthcare in rural Malawi is severely limited. Many mothers are forced to give birth in their villages without skilled medical assistance due to long distances, lack of money for transport – often by motorbike or oxcart – and inadequate maternity units. Mothers also suffer from malnutrition, which leads to premature births, underweight babies and increased rates of maternal and infant mortality.
In 2013, AVM opened a maternity unit which gives helps women access better facilities and safer birthing conditions. The facility has recently been expanded with a new a Safe Motherhood Unit to accommodate more new mothers and expand nutritional training programmes. These programmes aim to improve early prenatal care by establishing healthy fruit and vegetable gardens, including composting techniques, and hosting cooking demonstrations.
AVM is also introducing bicycle ambulances to transport mothers to the hospital. This gives women the power to choose how and where their babies are delivered, and ensure they get medical care when they need it.
Encouraging home gardening
Halcrow Foundation is supporting this project by funding 480 nutritional starter packs, including watering cans and seeds. These will be given to each new mother attending the nutritional training programme at the maternity unit. We are also funding five new ambulance bicycles and the training of local drivers.
These funds will help ensure mothers who can’t afford their own transport can access the maternity unit more easily to give birth. The nutritional starter packs will strengthen the benefits of AVM’s training sessions. Encouraging home gardening and good nutrition contributes to lower maternal and infant mortality rates.
AVM says, “A well-nourished mother is better equipped to provide breastmilk and provide optimal care for her newborn, and a well-nourished child has a greater chance of thriving.”
