Suchana Program: Ending the Cycle of Undernutrition in Bangladesh
Suchana beneficiary:
Nazma, 27, Baby boy, Saiman, 2 months 15 days
Community Mobiliser:
Sumi, 24
27-year-old Nazma gave birth to her third child, a little boy named Saiman, some two months ago. With her two older children, Nazma didn’t know to exclusively breastfeed for the first few months of their lives. In fact, on the advice of her mother-in-law she fed her children a mixture of suet and honey in the months after birth.
But thanks to the Save the Children’s Suchana programme, for the first time in a pregnancy she knew what food to eat while pregnant to give her baby the best start in life, to exclusively breastfeed while he is under 6 months and to regularly visit the doctor for ante natal care.
The Suchana programme uses trained community mobilisers to educate and inform mothers about breastfeeding, ante-natal and post-natal care, and the best food and nutrition for themselves and their children in the first 1000 days of life. The programme also helps mothers like Nazma with small cash grants to purchase livestock and by providing seeds and guidance to grow vegetables and fruit that can cope with the harsh weather and flooding.
