MAMI: Management of small and nutritionally At-risk Infants under 6 months and their Mothers

Save the Children’s MAMI Vision

Our vision is a world in which all small and nutritionally at-risk infants u6m of age are identified and supported to survive and thrive.

Save the Children’s MAMI Mission

To enable infants u6m to survive and thrive through increased quality and availability of services for small and nutritionally at-risk infants u6m and their mothers by scaling up multi-sector programming, enhancing capacity, filling evidence and learning gaps and actively engaging with partners as a global leader.

The Problem

Globally among infants u6m, 18% are born low birthweight, 20% are underweight (WAZ<-2), 21% are wasted (WHZ<-2) and 17% are stunted (HAZ<-2). Infants u6m make up approximately 20% of the global burden of severe acute malnutrition (SAM).

Infants under 6 months (u6m) are unique. Their wellbeing is intrinsically linked to that of their mother/ caregiver, being completely dependent on breastfeeding (or a breastmilk substitute ) to meet all their nutritional needs. Developmental changes from birth to 6-months are exponential compared to later in childhood. Younger infants are at greater risk of death than older children, with feeding practices closely linked to risk. In addition to this baseline risk, additional risk factors increase an infants’ vulnerabilities, for example being born prematurely or at low birthweight (<2500g). The MAMI Care Pathway provides a solution for at-risk infants under 6 months and their mothers: To see them. To assess them. To provide support.

The MAMI Care Pathway

MAMI guides the holistic case management of at-risk infants under 6 months and their mothers through community-based services. MAMI looks to leverage and build on what already exists within services for mothers and infants. MAMI links mothers and babies to existing services and links prevention and treatment.

The MAMI Care Pathway provides a guide for health workers to identify, assess, classify and manage at-risk infants under 6-months and their mothers. When a mother and infant present to a contact point, the Care Pathways guides the assessment of: Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) danger signs, anthropometrics of infant and mother, feeding practices, clinical symptoms, and maternal wellbeing.

In this short video, Save the Children and GOAL share experiences from implementing the MAMI Care Pathway in the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh and the South Sudanese refugee camps in Ethiopia to save the lives of vulnerable infants less than 6-months who may otherwise have been missed.

 

 

MAMI Orientations & Webinars

Various webinars and orientations on MAMI and the MAMI Care Pathway can be found on the MAMI Global Network youtube channel: MAMI Global Network – YouTube