Pregnancy and Postnatal Support

The first 1,000 days of a child's life — from conception to the second birthday — are among the most important for lifelong health and development. FMCH India and FMCH Indonesia both run structured pregnancy and postnatal programmes that reach mothers in some of the most underserved communities in their countries, equipping them with the knowledge, skills and support they need for a healthy pregnancy, safe delivery and strong start for their child.

Research shows that mothers who participate in structured pregnancy education programmes are 2.2 times more likely to receive adequate antenatal care, 2.7 times more likely to use a skilled birth attendant, and 2.8 times more likely to give birth in a health facility (1) — outcomes that directly reduce maternal and infant mortality.

 

FMCH India

FMCH India's pregnancy and postnatal work is built around four pillars delivered directly in communities across urban Mumbai and rural Maharashtra:

●Detection — frontline workers regularly monitor mothers' weight, BMI and nutritional status throughout pregnancy to enable early identification of risk

●Personalised counselling — pregnant and lactating mothers receive tailored guidance on diet, breastfeeding, self-care and safe delivery, adapted to their stage and health status

●Pregnancy clubs — community-based group sessions provide nutrition education and create organic networks of peer support among mothers

●Community events — targeted outreach around Breastfeeding Week, Nutrition Month and other health milestones reinforces healthy behaviours and extends reach

Fathers and mothers-in-law are actively engaged through dedicated events to create a wider supportive environment around each mother — recognising that family support is one of the strongest protective factors for both maternal mental health and infant outcomes.

FMCH India's NuTree app supports frontline workers in tracking each mother's progress and delivering personalised, timely guidance — with offline functionality and multilingual support to reach women in areas with limited connectivity.

The results speak for themselves: FMCH India's community interventions have achieved an 80% reduction in malnutrition and a 71% reduction in mothers with low BMI in their intervention areas, across more than 154,000 families worked with.

 

FMCH Indonesia

FMCH Indonesia delivers pregnancy classes and postnatal support for mothers in Semarang (Central Java) and in rural villages across West Timor, working in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of doctors, midwives, nutritionists and staff from the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN).

What pregnancy classes cover

Classes address the full range of issues facing pregnant mothers in low-resource settings:

●Maternal nutrition and management of anaemia

●The critical importance of the first 1,000 days

●Antenatal care — what to expect and why it matters

●Kangaroo care for newborns, particularly those with low birth weight

●Exclusive breastfeeding and early initiation of breastfeeding

●Family planning

●Prevention of dengue fever and malaria during pregnancy

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The case for kangaroo care

Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) — skin-to-skin contact between mother and newborn — is a cornerstone of the FMCH Indonesia programme, particularly for low birth weight babies. Evidence consistently shows that KMC reduces neonatal mortality, improves breastfeeding rates and strengthens mother-infant bonding (2). WHO recognises KMC as a safe, effective and low-cost intervention especially suited to resource-limited settings (3) — making it ideally placed for the communities FMCH Indonesia serves.

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Postnatal follow-up

Support does not end at delivery. FMCH Indonesia's team follows up with each mother and baby in the weeks after birth, monitoring for signs of complications, poor attachment or postnatal mental health difficulties. This continuity of care is essential for catching problems early and ensuring that the benefits of the pregnancy programme extend into the critical postnatal period.

 

References

1 BMC Public Health (2020). The influence of pregnancy classes on the use of maternal health services in Indonesia. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7082955/

2 BMC Pediatrics (2025). The effects of short- and long-duration Kangaroo Mother Care on growth and breastfeeding outcomes. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12604376/

3 WHO (2023). Kangaroo mother care to reduce morbidity and mortality in low-birth-weight infants. https://www.who.int/tools/elena/interventions/kangaroo-care-infants