Mother & Child Nutrition Programme
A community-level response to elevated low birth weight rates in coastal villages — combining prenatal nutrition, monthly education, regular health checkups, and postnatal care.
What the Field Team Found
MTN's community health workers began documenting a pattern across 8 villages in the coastal Andhra Pradesh region: an unusually high proportion of newborns were arriving underweight. The finding was consistent enough across villages and across seasons that the team conducted a structured assessment to understand the root cause.
The evidence pointed clearly to a single root cause: nutritional deficiency during pregnancy, compounded by a complete absence of awareness, access, or follow-up support. This was not a failure of will — it was a failure of infrastructure and information. Both were within MTN's capacity to address.
Three Components, Running Simultaneously
Prenatal Nutrition Supplements
- ✓Folic acid, iron tablets, and multivitamins provided to every enrolled pregnant woman from the first confirmed pregnancy
- ✓Weekly nutritious food packages distributed — including lentils, eggs, green vegetables, and fortified grain — to supplement home diet
- ✓Anaemia screening at enrolment with targeted iron supplementation for women identified as iron-deficient
- ✓Supplement schedule tracked by community health workers at every home visit
- ✓240+ women enrolled in the first 18 months of the programme
Monthly Nutrition Awareness Classes
- ✓Monthly group sessions held in each village, led by MTN community health workers with support from the hospital's maternal health team
- ✓Sessions covered: balanced diet during pregnancy, safe breastfeeding practices, infant feeding in the first six months, food preparation and hygiene, and the direct link between maternal nutrition and birth weight
- ✓Husbands and mothers-in-law invited to sessions — family context identified as a key determinant of what pregnant women actually eat
- ✓Visual aids and take-home materials provided in Telugu — the primary language of all enrolled women
- ✓Attendance tracked; women who missed sessions visited at home by CHWs in the same week
Prenatal & Postnatal Health Checkups
- ✓Every enrolled woman receives a minimum of 4 prenatal checkups — blood pressure, weight, foetal development, and anaemia screening — at no cost
- ✓Mobile health camp visits to remote villages for women who cannot travel to the MTN hospitals
- ✓Safe delivery support — women in late pregnancy connected to the hospital's maternal health team for delivery planning
- ✓Postnatal checkups for every mother and newborn within 72 hours, 14 days, and 6 weeks of delivery
- ✓Infant weight recorded at every postnatal visit — the primary outcome metric for programme evaluation
Results Against Objectives
| Deliverable | Target | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Villages with active programme | 8 | ✓ 8 / 8 active |
| Mothers enrolled (Year 1–2) | 200 | ✓ 240+ enrolled |
| Prenatal checkups completed | 4 per mother | ✓ Average 4.2 per enrolled mother |
| Nutrition awareness sessions delivered | 96 (12/village/yr) | ✓ 96 / 96 delivered |
| Postnatal checkups (72hr + 14d + 6wk) | 3 per birth | ✓ 3-visit protocol followed for all tracked births |
| Reduction in low birth weight cases | ↓ 30% vs baseline | ✓ ↓ 34% recorded across programme villages |
| Anaemia at delivery (screened cases) | < 40% | ✓ 31% anaemia rate vs 68% at baseline |
| Families reached with nutrition education | All enrolled + family | ✓ 240 women + 180+ family members attended sessions |
The 8 Programme Villages
Coastal Andhra Pradesh region. All villages served by MTN community health workers with direct links to the MTN hospitals maternal health department.
| Village | Mandal / Area | Mothers Enrolled |
|---|---|---|
| Rammurthy Nagar | Kakinada Rural | 38 |
| Fishermen's Colony | Kakinada Coastal | 29 |
| Peddapurappadu | Prathipadu | 31 |
| Gollapalem | Tallarevu | 27 |
| Gaigolupadu | Tallarevu | 24 |
| Lakshmipathi Puram | Karapa | 33 |
| Pagadalapeta | Kakinada Rural | 28 |
| Sarpavaram | Kakinada Rural | 30 |
| Total — all 8 villages | 240+ | |
Village names and enrolment figures are updated quarterly. Contact us for the most current programme data.
What It Costs to Run This Programme
Cost includes: prenatal nutrition supplements (folic acid, iron, vitamins), weekly nutritious food package (eggs, lentils, greens, fortified grain), monthly awareness session delivery, minimum 4 prenatal checkups per mother, mobile camp transport to remote villages, and 3-visit postnatal follow-up for every birth. Community health worker salaries are shared across programmes and not included in this figure.
Fund the Next Set of Villages
MTN's community health workers have identified 5 additional villages with documented high rates of low birth weight and no existing maternal nutrition support. Each village costs approximately $43,200/year to bring fully into the programme — covering all supplements, weekly food packages, health checkups, and postnatal follow-up for approximately 30 mothers over 12 months ($120/month × 30 mothers × 12 months). A single donor can fund one village for a full year.
| Village | Mandal / Area | Est. Eligible Mothers | Annual Cost | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kotipalli | Ramachandrapuram | ~34 | $48,960 | High |
| Allavaram | Amalapuram Rural | ~28 | $40,320 | High |
| Razole East | Razole | ~36 | $51,840 | High |
| Narsapur Coastal | Narsapur | ~31 | $44,640 | High |
| Ravulapalem | Ravulapalem | ~26 | $37,440 | High |
| Total — all 5 new villages | $223,200 | |||
Programme Photos
Delivered Through MTN's Integrated Health System
The Mother & Child Nutrition Programme is delivered through the combined capacity of MTN's MTN hospitals maternal health department and its community health worker network. Hospital staff design the supplement protocols and conduct clinical checkups. Community health workers carry the programme into villages — distributing supplements, conducting awareness sessions, tracking attendance, and connecting women to the hospital for delivery and postnatal care.
Fund the Mother & Child Programme
$120/month supports one mother through her full pregnancy — prenatal supplements, a weekly nutritious food package, clinical checkups, monthly awareness sessions, and postnatal follow-up. $1,440 funds her complete journey from first trimester through 3 months postnatal. $43,200 funds an entire village for a year.
Every dollar is tracked, reported, and receipted. Institutional donors receive quarterly outcome data.