Nurturing Mothers for Healthier Futures

“I am so happy because baby Jasmine is growing healthy, and she has never been sick since the day she was born,” says Catherine, a 28-year-old mom from Parola in Tondo, Manila.

Catherine’s joy is one every mother hopes for, but in Manila, it is not always a reality. In the Philippines, many women and children are deficient in vitamins and minerals that are vital to healthy development, disease prevention, and wellbeing. Moreover, a quarter of pregnant women suffer from anemia.

Anemia can weaken expecting mothers when they need their strength the most, leading to complications for both mothers and babies, such as premature delivery, stillbirth, or low birth weight. A mother’s anemia can even cause her growing child to develop anemia themselves.

While Catherine’s previous pregnancies were challenging, her experience with her youngest daughter, Jasmine, was quite different after participating in a mother-to-mother support group. These groups, started by Helen Keller Intl, bring together mothers and pregnant women to provide support and education about prenatal vitamins, maternal nutrition, breastfeeding, hygiene, and child feeding.

Supporting Mothers to Have Healthy Pregnancies 

The first 1,000 days of a child’s life, from conception to their second birthday, are incredibly important for their physical, mental, and cognitive development. If a mother and child do not get proper nutrition at this critical time, the damage can echo throughout their lives.

In the Philippines alone, three in ten children are stunted, or short for their age, due to malnutrition. Similarly, nearly 6% of Filipino children under the age of five are underweight, affecting nearly 800,000 every year. Yet with proper nutrition, the health and wellbeing of both mothers and their growing children can be improved.

With support from generous donors, Helen Keller is working with the Philippine government, health workers, and community members to provide critical support to new and expecting mothers through peer support groups. These mother-to-mother support groups foster learning on breastfeeding, child feeding techniques, and recipes and give mothers the space to share their experiences and challenges as they progress on their maternal journey.

Helen Keller is also supporting the Philippine government to transition from iron-folic acid prenatal supplements to multiple micronutrient supplementation. These new, comprehensive prenatal vitamins have been shown to improve women’s nutritional status and reduce the risk of adverse birth outcomes such as preterm birth, stillbirth, and low birth weight. Mother-to-mother support groups offer a supportive environment to reach pregnant women with information about and access to the new prenatal pills.

A New, Healthier Generation

By participating in the mother-to-mother support group, Catherine learned about additional dietary requirements during pregnancy, the need for prenatal check-ups at a health facility, and tips and tricks for childcare.

Catherine values the knowledge and skills she learned from participating in the group and the connections she made with other women in her community. She says, “I am also thankful to our health workers and peer mothers here in Parola because I also learned a lot from them as they shared their experiences.”

This new knowledge included the importance of taking the new comprehensive prenatal vitamins to support good nutrition. During her earlier pregnancies, she had received iron-folic acid tablets and was happy to take a supplement that provided additional vital nutrients to support a healthy pregnancy this time.

“It is just my husband and I raising our four children, and I share the burden of earning a living and ensuring that my children are well-nourished,” says Catherine.

She is glad to see the impact this new supplement has already had on Jasmine’s life and her own.