Approach to holistic early childhood development: Integrating maternal mental health into nurturing care program in Nkhatabay, Malawi.

• In Event: Poster Group 2
  In Poster Session: Approach to holistic early childhood development: Integrating maternal mental health into nurturing care program in Nkhatabay, Malawi.

Proposal

Promoting early childhood development (ECD), especially during the first 5 years of a child’s life, provides a critical foundation for lifetime education, physical and mental health, and social well-being. Critical to optimal ECD is Nurturing Care (WHO, UNICEF, WORLD Bank, 2018) with “a stable environment created by parents and other caregivers that ensures children's good health and nutrition, protects them from threats, and gives young children opportunities for early learning, through interactions that are emotionally supportive and responsive.” However, far too many children around the globe do not receive the care and support they need in a nurturing family environment. As a result, for example, more than two thirds of children under 5 in Sub-Saharan Africa are not on track in their cognitive and social-emotional development, higher than any other region in the world (Black et al. 2016). Among several other factors that can negatively impact child health and development outcomes is caregivers’ poor mental health, particularly poor maternal mental health. Pregnant women and new mothers in developing countries are disproportionately affected by depression and other mental health disorders, which can adversely affect breastfeeding, mother-child bonding, parenting quality and ultimately children’s overall development (WHO 2020).
To address the need of maternal mental health for adequate and responsive nurturing care, CRS has partnered with Association for Women in Religious Institutes of Malawi (AWRIM) to implement the SCORE ECD Project III which goal is children 0-3 years old in the target areas live in nurturing environments by 2024 with a theory of change (ToC): if faith actors and their organizations continue to expand and improve their technical and organizational capacities, then they will more effectively and sustainably provide services to caregivers of young children, leading to those caregivers being better able to provide nurturing care, which ultimately improves child development outcomes. One of the strategies to achieving this goal was implementing the Integrated Mother Baby Course (iMBC) - a prevention model based on cognitive behavioral therapy and attachment theory—as part of holistic approach to early childhood development i.e., iMBC/ECD. This model focuses on improved maternal mental health and responsive nurturing care during the pre- and post-natal period with mothers identified (using Edinburgh mental health screening tool) as having issues of stress and anxiety.
Since 2016, CRS has been adapting, testing and refining iMBC model which has been adapted for use with low literacy audiences and is delivered by community health volunteers (CHVs) and Lead Mothers under the supervision of nurses or Sister Master Trainers, through group sessions and home visits. Using a concise verbal explanation and visually engaging format, this poster presentation will share how the iMBC/ECD model reduced the prevalence of maternal mental health issues that helped enhance nurturing care experiences for under-3 years old children in Malawi, including the lesson learned for further impact and scale.


Presenter: Jacqueline Mkwani, jacqueline.mkwani@crs.org, Catholic Relief Services

Author

• Jacqueline chalemera, Catholic Relief Services