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Complementary feeding

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Key thought: The food we begin to eat with determines our destiny. Brief: Food. It comes in every variety to entice us. Different shapes, sizes, textures, tastes and packaging. Each unique. The perfect mango, yellow, succulent, juicy, tasty. The king of fruits. What about a plate full of steaming hot white basmati rice. The circular, blown up, crisp rotis just out of the tawa. The aroma of spicy dal with a twist of butter on the top. The list could go on about food glorious food. Yes, and there is more to it. In every food is a treasure house of nutrients that will go a long way in giving us energy, building our bodies, transforming our minds, carving our futures and destinies. The rice and roti we eat will break down into glucose and then to Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) which will fuel our cells and tissues to do their day-to-day work; to walk, to sit, to stand, to hold, even to breathe. The protein in the dal will become amino acids, which will soon make our muscles stronge...
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Breastfeeding

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Key thought: A smart manager dealing with Public health has a host of reasons to promote breastfeeding. Brief: The perfect solution to all the management challenges! To the manager-in-charge of production and quality control, here is a product, customised for each individual client, yet never fails on quality. A product that always has the right ingredients; is always served at the right temperature and always satisfies! To the manager-in-charge of logistics, here is a product with no hassles of supply chain, no hassles of storage and no need for a warehouse; has reach to the most inaccessible areas, in even the worst climatic conditions, any time during the year, day-and-night; in transit, at homes, everywhere. To the human resource manager the product and the service need no staff deployment to manage consumption and use; and definitely does not require any supervisory or managerial staff to provide oversight. To the finance manager, this product needs no budg...
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Maternal Nutrition

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Key thought: The mother’s body is the manufacturing unit for a new child; it does need all the right raw materials for the best product! Brief: It was a fourth baby in the five years since her marriage. Although her husband would come for only two months each year, she would conceive and be ready for the next child. That all the four were girls was another reason for her repeated pregnancies. This one in particular was born very weak. Just 1500 grams. Bare bones with skin stuck on them, dark and weak. Unable to suck her mother’s milk for two reasons. The mother’s breast itself was shriveled and dry and the baby had no strength to suck from them. Her fate written in stone, she had minimal chance of survival. Women, particularly of childbearing age, are often too willing to sacrifice their diet and health. The fact that their nutritional status and health is so vital for the entire family goes unthought-of. Every mother-in-waiting has this amazing new person formed within h...
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Institutional delivery

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Key thought: It is best to be born in the safest possible place Brief: “Every woman, every newborn, everywhere has the right to good quality care…At the same time, poor quality care that is too little, too late jeopardises the health of women and their babies” says the Executive Summary of the Maternal Health Series of Lancet, a well-known Medical Journal. For quality care during birth, the safest possible place is the best bet. Where then is the safest place? The home? That is a tricky question to answer. What if the mother begins bleeding which cannot be stopped? What if, the baby is unable to cry and breathe properly after birth? What if, the labour process is very long? What if, the baby’s birth process is not normal? There are just too many “what ifs” for delivery at home to be qualified as safe. The hospital? Yes provided there are qualified and well-trained people who can manage normal as well as difficult cases of delivery. The same “what ifs” of above have to be ...
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Birth preparedness

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Key thought: Nothing but the best possible preparations are adequate to welcome a new person to the world. Brief: The fetus in a mother’s womb lives in a safe watery world. Every organ and system is working through the mother’s own complex system of life. The embryo has oxygen and food delivered through the umbilical cord, and has not yet begun to breathe its own fresh air or consume its own fresh nutrients. Even vital systems are different; the lungs have not yet begun working and the heart has several holes and pipes to allow for a different route of flow of blood. In a few minutes of birth, there is an overhaul of changes. The newborn breathes its first breath of air, cries, stretches the limbs; the holes in the heart are sealed and blood flows through the lungs and rest of the body. These first few moments of birth are critical both the newborn and the mother. Although birth is a physiological process, anything can go wrong. The mother’s connection of her womb throu...
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Nine Milestones and investing in 9 gems

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Key thought: In the first 1000 days of life, critical Health, Nutrition and Sanitation milestones can be achieved (or key evidence based intervention gems can be accumulated) that can have long lasting impact. Brief: Gems are hidden in the deep interiors of the earth. Rough, uncut and not of any value till they are discovered, cut, polished and owned. To the owner of a shining brilliant gem, the hidden stone of yesterday is a priceless treasure of today. The owner knows the worth of each gem she possesses for with each gem is a story of grit, determination, dedication and achievement. A long distance runner too knows the determination, training, skills and knowledge needed to accomplish a run. Each milestone achieved is a step closer to the goal. The finish line and victory awaits the runner once the final milestone is crossed. Much like the gems and the milestones are the nine evidence based interventions related to the health, nutrition and sanitation, in the first 10...
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The first 1000 days in life

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Key thought: A person’s life journey in the first 1000 days and the investments therein is the key to his future productivity and returns. We all begin our life’s journey as a single complete cell. Our mother’s womb provides the perfect place for our formation. Her blood vessels supply us with the oxygen and nutrition that we need. Beginning from the first few weeks of organ formation, it is by nine months we are ready to face the outside world. Once we are born, it is during our first two years the rest of our formation take place; we learn to develop our motor skills, social skills, mental abilities that shape the fine and important attributes like intelligence, emotions and dreams. This period encompassing the time in our mother’s womb till the second birthday is known as the first 1000 days of life. The investments made in our lives during this period has an amazing propensity to determine our destinies. Whether we are destined to grow well mentally and physically, hav...
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