A new baby has a brighter future

The Maternal Health Awareness and Baby Kit Project empowers mothers in Myanmar. Naw Eh Gay Wah had been living near a Burmese military camp but fled when the soldiers began abusing the residents. She was able to escape to a camp for Internally Displaced Persons on the Thai border where she met her husband.  

In the absence of medical clinics in the remote area, the mission of the Maternal Health Awareness and Baby Kit Program is to empower pregnant women to make the best decisions for their own health and the health of their babies with resources available to them. Pregnant for the first time, Naw Eh was eager to be mentored by trained community leaders and looked to new mothers in the program as role models. As diet has a powerful impact on infant and maternal health, Naw Eh learned about the concept of food groups and the importance of choosing from a variety of nutritional sources. She also discovered the negative impacts of tobacco and alcohol use during pregnancy and gained valuable information about breast-feeding.   

As mothers and babies are quite vulnerable, the program highlights best practices around hygiene and disease prevention.  As a result of the training, not only did Naw Eh have a heightened awareness of proper hygiene but was given the tools to protect against rashes and more serious infections. Each baby kit contains nail clippers, clean cloth that can be reused for slings and diapers along with a supply of laundry and body soap.  Having received these practical products, Naw Eh is able to practice good hygiene without having to sacrifice the family’s food budget.   “I want to express my gratitude to the project’s donors for the health knowledge and the baby kit. I feel happy and very fortunate.”