Mother-To-Mother Support Groups Raising Breastfeeding Awareness

 Asho at Yubbe MCH posing for a picture. Photo: Khadar Abdulahi Nur © CARE

 Asho Mohamed Yusuf is one of the leaders of the Mother-to-Mother Support Groups at Yubbe Health facility in Yubbe village. The village has a population of more than 2,000 people, and the community relies on pastoral activities to make a living. As a mother of eight children, Asho’s day starts very early. She must complete household chores and care for her children before mobilizing mothers to attend the health facility.

The first thing that Asho does as soon as she arrives at the health facility is plan the day ahead, whilst keeping in mind that she must engage the women to make the right choices regarding breastfeeding. “Changing people's minds results in people changing their behavior. This is something difficult but possible, as I was adequately trained on how to do it,” says Asho with confidence. 

Asho and her team were coached by CARE with support from USAID on topics related to mother-to-mother support. The training enabled them to share knowledge and awareness messages with other mothers. It also personally benefited Asho, who had previously used infant milk formula instead of exclusive breastfeeding for her first children. This resulted in some complications as her children faced difficulties in breathing, vomiting, and diarrhea. She highlighted that taking her children to the hospital became a routine before joining the Mother-to-Mother Support Groups.

Asho holding placards depicting how childbearing mothers should properly hold their child while breastfeeding. Photo: Khadar Abdulahi Nur © CARE

 However, after having breastfed her last child, she noticed a stark difference. “I have noticed that the one child I exclusively breastfed is much healthier, and there is a much closer bond between us as a result of exclusive breastfeeding,’ said Asho. 

 Yubbe health facility receives on average twenty-five people per day with various medical needs that Asho and other staff members must support. However, while other staff attend to child deliveries, and support malnourished children, Asho and her team focus on providing breastfeeding information to pregnant and lactating mothers through group discussions.

 “During our first engagements with mothers, it was difficult to convince them that exclusive breastfeeding is the best solution for making sure that their child grows healthy and mentally strong in particular during the first six months of their lives, most of the mothers would tell us that they cannot breastfeed as they did not have enough breast milk, hence they would opt for milk formula,”said Asho.

Asho with her team doing house to house visit to educate mothers on the importance of breastfeeding. Photo: Khadar Abdulahi Nur © CARE

Asho and her team comprising of fifteen well-trained female healthcare workers did not lose hope but continued engaging women who came to the health facility and through door-to-door visits on the benefits of breastfeeding and many of them have started to exclusively breastfeed their children.

“A lot of childbearing mothers are coming to me and telling me that their child is much healthier; they do not take them to the hospital as frequently as they used to, and they can save money and do other things with it because they no longer need to buy infant milk formula, but the most important thing that I heard from them is that they have witnessed a stronger bond, unlike before,” says Asho.
Asho and her team meet every week just to go through what went right and what they could have done better during the previous week while also planning for the week ahead. 

“These catch-up meetings with my team are fundamental in ensuring that there is accountability in our work. Mothers unable to reach the health facility receive awareness messages through house-to-house visits, and this outreach approach is crucial in ensuring that the message reaches mothers right at their doorstep and that we leave no one behind,”  said Asho.

The Mother-to-Mother Support Group was established in October 2022 by CARE under the SOMSHARP project with generous funding from BHA/USAID, and since then has been providing awareness and counseling sessions on child breastfeeding and a variety of other topics concerning mother and child healthcare.

One of the mother-to-Mother Support Groups members educating mothers on how to prepare nutritious food for their children. Photo: Khadar Abdulahi Nur © CARE