Mother and Baby (Mama na Mwana)
St John Malawi is running a maternal and child health programme to tackle high maternal and neonatal mortality rates in the programme areas.
St John Malawi supports the local government facilities’s efforts to improve the availability of timely and essential care for pregnant women and new mothers with babies in Blantyre and Lilongwe particulraly in Ndirande and Mbayani; and Kauma, Chiuzira and Chimbalanga respectively.
With support from St John International, St John Scotland and the Scottish Government, the Maternal and Child Health programme has realised signficant milestones in the served communities to reduce newborn and child deaths.
St John volunteers make door-to-door visits to support expectant and new parents, encourage them to use medical services early and often enough. They also help families to develop a birth plan and what to do in an emergency. Community health education sessions are provided to reach women and girls before their first or next pregnancy, and promotes wider support among community members for pregnant women and new mothers.
St John also supplies a basic package of support to local clinics, such as scales to weigh pregnant women and newborns, blood pressure monitors and sterilising equipment. In remote villages, where health services are not available, our volunteers work together with local health staff to provide outreach clinics. These makeshift clinics in tents or spare rooms provide HIV testing, family planning, and checks for pregnant women, new mothers and babies.
The Mother and Baby Programme is funded by:
