Kangaroo Care in Malawi

Last year's State of the World's Mothers report cover featured Grace, a mother in Malawi, holding her baby, Tumtumfwe. The little girl was born two months early, weighing only 2.2 pounds. This is Grace and Tumtumfwe today.

If there was ever a poster child for the campaign to reduce child deaths, Malawi's Tumtumfwe would be ideal. Born two months premature and weighing only 2.2 pounds, her concerned mother doubted that she would survive her first month of life. Through a Save the Children program, Grace learned an approach called "kangaroo mother care," keeping her small baby wrapped close to her skin to stay warm and breastfeeding her every hour.  After one week, Tumtumfwe gained 3.5 ounces. 

Today — almost exactly a year later — mother and baby are healthy and happy. Tumtumfwe is growing normally, loves to play all day, and is very curious and outgoing. “She is my best friend,” says Grace. “She is such a healthy baby.”

Save the Children has helped establish kangaroo care centers for low birthweight babies at five hospitals in Malawi and is working to expand the program to additional sites. Hundreds of health workers have been trained and national guidelines are being developed to ensure consistent quality of care.

Watch Video of Kangaroo Mother Care in Malawi

Healthy Pregnancies and Healthy Babies in Egypt

Egypt has made significant progress in reducing deaths of children under 5, yet within the country, there are very poor areas where child mortality rates are more than double the national average. Nagat is from such an area, a small village in Upper Egypt.

Nagat with her baby Omnia (which means wish in Arabic).

Nagat’s first three pregnancies ended in miscarriage. When she became pregnant a fourth time, a volunteer from Save the Children’s health program visited her house and urged her to come in for regular checkups and training sessions.

Nagat learned how to have a healthy pregnancy and recognize danger signs. She also learned about the importance of breastfeeding and birth-spacing, how to prepare nutritious meals for her baby, and what to do to prevent and treat common childhood diseases. Because Nagat was considered a high-risk case, the health volunteer visited her house frequently over the course of her pregnancy to make sure she was putting into practice what she was learning.

In June 2005, Nagat gave birth to a healthy baby girl name Omnia. “I had suffered so much before,” she said. “I just wanted this baby to be healthy.”

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