Malawi is one of the 10 poorest countries in Africa, but has made tremendous progress against child deaths by ensuring that pregnant women go to health-care facilities to deliver their babies. Malawi proves that success is possible, even in the most resource-poor areas.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Barbara Kinney
The Malawi government, in partnership with Save the Children, has pioneered a community-based maternal and newborn care program that trains health care workers to educate women and men in rural areas about the life-saving benefits of giving birth in facilities, as well as proper newborn care like exclusive breastfeeding.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Barbara Kinney
Women at the maternity waiting area in Dowa District Hospital spoke with me about their experiences. I met one woman (not pictured here) who had insisted on delivering her sixth baby in the hospital despite her husband’s protests. She ended up needing an emergency C-section that saved her and her newborn baby’s lives. Together, they are living proof that Malawi’s community-based maternal and newborn care program works.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Barbara Kinney
One sentiment that many women I met with expressed was the desire for more family-planning tools. Because mothers are now more confident their babies will live to adulthood, they naturally want to reduce the number of children they have.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Barbara Kinney
In addition to programs like this one, that provide special care for children with extreme complications, Malawi’s high immunization rates have also been a key factor in its success in reducing child deaths. The GAVI Alliance has helped Malawi deliver critical vaccines to the children who need them. The world has a tremendous opportunity to save even more lives by supporting increased access to proven vaccines and introducing new vaccines—like those for rotavirus and pneumococcus—as they become available.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Barbara Kinney
Kangaroo mother care (KMC) is a simple, effective way for mothers to help their newborn babies survive the critical first hours and days of life. Through skin-to-skin contact, a mother prevents hypothermia in her newborn, encourages emotional bonding, and allows the baby to breastfeed easily. In the KMC unit at the Bwaila Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi, I met a mother who delivered pre-term twins on the way to the health center in her area. When she arrived at the hospital, the staff taught her about kangaroo care to help her babies stay warm and gain weight.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Barbara Kinney
Dr. Michel Kazatchkine, the executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and I visited L’Hopital de la Mere et le l’Enfant (Mother and Child Hospital) in Cotonou, Benin, to learn more about its important work to save the lives of women and newborns, including programs that help prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
I’m thrilled by the progress that’s being made to prevent mother-to-child transmission. An HIV-positive mom in Benin told me that she counts herself lucky to have received antiretroviral drugs that protected her baby from the virus—and grateful to be spared the heartache of transmitting HIV to her son, now a healthy one-year-old.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
Our tour of the hospital concluded with a visit to the neonatology unit, where we suited up with masks and gowns to see where babies born prematurely or with complications receive special care. As a mom, I am deeply committed to helping save the lives of women and children.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the first lady of France and the Global Fund’s Ambassador for Women and Children, Michel Kazatchkine, and I visited a rural maternity hospital in Dangbo, Benin. We followed the route that many women take through the hospital during the course of their pregnancy, from prenatal care through to their delivery.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
The hospital provides great care, including HIV testing, counseling, guidance on how to reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to newborns, and information to help women discuss their HIV status with their partners.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
The hospital staff proudly showed us their on-site lab, where they provide HIV testing and results. Having a lab is particularly important during heavy rains, when flooded roads would make it impossible to transport blood samples to a centralized lab.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
Developing countries like Malawi and Benin are making remarkable progress. They are proving that we can save millions of lives with the health tools available today. Now, we need to make sure that programs that provide care for women and newborns, immunizations, and nutrition are reaching all the people who need them. When women thrive, their families thrive, and their entire communities prosper.
Courtesy of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation / Frédéric Courbet
