Village Volunteers Prevent Baby Deaths

Dear Friend

The Women and Children First team has been busy over the summer months preparing to set up new programmes in Ethiopia and Uganda.  If we can raise the money for maternal, newborn and and child health projects in these countries, then we will be able to share more success stories like this one from Malawi.

It’s more than a year since the last neonatal death in Kanyemba village – a measure of the success of the Village Volunteers Project.

In the villages of Kauwa and Kanyemba there are two groups of volunteers: the Registrars, who register births, deaths and pregnancies; and the Growth Monitors, who ensure that pregnant women and children receive the nutrition that they need.

The Registrars keep a record of every pregnancy in the village and advise pregnant women on antenatal and postnatal care. They stay in touch with them during their pregnancy and beyond, making sure that they and their babies have the immunisations they need and are taking medication to prevent malaria. If there are any problems during the pregnancy or labour, they encourage women to go straight to the hospital. And when a woman does have her baby in hospital, the Registrars ask her for feedback so they can monitor the quality of the services being provided by health care facilities.

The Growth Monitors encourage women to have a varied diet so they receive the full range of nutrients they need during their pregnancy. Once the babies are born, they weigh them regularly, identify any who are losing weight or having difficulties, and help work out what the mother can do to resolve the problem. The Growth Monitors also run nutrition sessions to educate mothers, so they know how to feed their children a healthy diet that contains everything they need to grow into strong, healthy adults.  

These volunteers are helping to make a great difference for the health of women and children in their communities.

Will you help too?.

Best wishes


Ros Davies
Chief Executive