My son is still alive!

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“My son was already declared dead by the community due to Malnutrition but Thanks to Mother Child Pair Food Distribution”


Baby Mateyu will grow to hear the stories shared by his mother on how Mother Child Pair (MCP) food distribution saved his life. MCP is the largest food distribution activity in the UBALE Program. MCP food distribution beneficiaries are all Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLWs) and all children are under the age of two. The sole purpose of this distribution is prevention of stunting as it targets the first 1,000 days of human life, that is from the date of conception of the mother to the second birthday of the new born baby.

It was during one of these MCP distributions at GVH Kamanga in TA Tengani that the responsible Health Field Officer (HFO), Miss Elizabeth Gondwe, came across a desperate mother, Aida Khamba carrying her baby Mateyu. The appearance of the baby was not related to his age (2 months 3 weeks) as he looked very old and with a shrunken wasted body.
Baby Mateyu during the first Mother Child Pair food distribution

Mateyu’s health passport history showed that he was born in September 2015 with a birth weight of 3.3kg's. Later the weight went down to as low as 1.5kg's in November the month of the first MCP food distribution at GVH Kamanga.


              
Baby Mateyu being fed baby formula (Lactogen)
Upon interviewing Aida, she complained that she was unable to produce enough breast milk for the baby and that the baby was not feeding properly. This was Aida’s first baby and she had very little knowledge on baby feeding as the nearest health facility where Aida could get the right information was 25 kilometers away. Realizing that one condition for the mother to produce enough milk is eating enough nutritious food with six food groups, Elizabeth Gondwe invited Aida and the baby to stay at her house in Bangula for one week. She did this with the aim of continuing counseling and advising the mother on nutritious food preparation that could induce breast milk production and closely observe the feeding habits of both the mother and the baby. She advised Mateyu’s mother to take with her all the food rations (3.125kgs Corn Soy Blend (CSB) + and 1 litre fortified vegetable oil) that she received during the day of distribution.

In Bangula, Elizabeth continued counseling and assuring the mother that she can still produce enough milk for her baby and that breast milk is the only best food for babies. Since the time Aida arrived at Bangula she stopped producing breast milk. Elizabeth bought Lactogen baby formula and advised the mother to feed the baby as she was re-starting breastfeeding. Aida was shown how to prepare CSB + porridge and was advised to eat the porridge herself. By the end of the week that Aida stayed at Elizabeth’s house, her breasts had started producing reasonable amounts of milk. At this point she was allowed to go back to her village with the advice of continuing breastfeeding the baby and for eating the CSB + porridge plus other locally available six food groups.


Baby Mateyu at 1 year 2 months weighing 8.9 kilograms
Elizabeth Gondwe continued with her counseling and advisory role to Aida and her relatives together with the communities of GVH Kamanga. She advised her to continue breastfeeding the baby and start complementary feeds as soon as the baby is six months old.

Several subsequent monitoring and assessment visits were done by Elizabeth but the final assessment visit was done in the month of December 2016. During this visit Mateyu was 1 year 2 months and the baby was walking on his own and the weight recorded in the health passport was 8.9kg's.

CARE Malawi launched MCP food distribution for FY16 in Nsanje on 20th October 2015 at Dinde Primary School Final Distribution Point (FDP).

By Anacklet Lupiya
District Maternal and Child Health Nutrition/WASH Coordinator.

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