The results of Team Mum’s pregnancy support groups in Meru have been remarkable – even better than we predicted.
We reached more women and men than we originally aimed for, and saw improvements to life-saving behaviours. Since Child.org introduced Team Mum in Kenya, we’ve seen an increase in both the number of women attending all four recommended antenatal clinics and in deliveries conducted by a skilled birth attendant. Due to its excellent results, Team Mum was granted an ‘A Grade’ from UK Aid.
Our latest report showcases just how impactful Team Mum has been. You can read it here.
The report
In the report you can see what we did, how it worked, where the challenges were and why we believe involving men in pregnancy support groups is critical to changing perceptions of pregnancy being a ‘woman’s business’.
You can meet some of the women and men who participated in the project and how it impacted their experiences of pregnancy and birth. Women like Mercy:
“If I didn’t go to hospital I probably would have died. Thanks to Child.org and Team Mum I knew the importance of going to hospital” – Mercy, mum of five
Our approach
Team Mum is a community-based healthcare initiative, and what’s so exciting about what we have seen through the data we’ve recorded (and which is reflected in government statistics) is that community healthcare really can improve maternal and neonatal health outcomes.
We’ve seen that by training and supporting local Community Health Promoters to deliver pregnancy support groups, there was a significant change in knowledge and behaviours amongst pregnant women participating in the groups.
What’s more, by developing partnerships with the local Ministry of Health and working with national health strategies already in place, Team Mum has had a sustainable approach since its inception.
What next?
Whilst there have been some excellent strides forward in maternal and child mortality rates in Kenya (and globally), neonatal mortality rates have barely changed over the past decade. Over half of child deaths in Kenya happen in the first month of life, and three quarters before a child’s first birthday.
However, Team Mum’s success proves this can change and we’re ready to take our community-based approach further.
The County Minstry of Health are now taking the lead in Team Mum and have approved the project’s launch across 11 sub-counties in Meru – up from one. We’ve been given office space in the Ministry of Health county building and the Child.org team has been training county health professionals as the first step of Team Mum’s expansion (read about our training here).
We’re scaling up from working with 6,000 women over three years, to 20,000 women over two years with a focus on sustainable change and investment.
If you have any questions about the project, past or future, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can email me at marti@child.org.
This is just the start for Team Mum.