Mind
Mental and emotional support before and after birth: training for hospital teams, sessions for mothers in the antenatal clinic, and scheduled phone check-ins in the first weeks at home.
Mothers first · Hyderabad, India
In India, a mother is cared for until the baby arrives. Then the attention moves to the child. We stay with her.
ప్రతి తల్లికి ఆసరా కావాలి.हर माँ को सहारा चाहिए।
Why
India has fixed much of what kills mothers. It has not yet turned to what breaks them.
Most new mothers are never asked how they are. There is no national screening for her mental health, before or after birth. Half of newborns miss the first-hour feed, and exclusive breastfeeding is falling. A room to feed her baby outside the home is still rare.
None of this is for lack of love. It is for lack of attention, in the weeks when a mother is least able to ask for it.
Who
From the second trimester, so she knows what is coming and who to call.
In the first twelve weeks, when the questions are many and the sleep is short.
Doctors, nurses, partners and parents who want to help and are not sure how.
The Foundation for Maternal Wellbeing is an initiative of Rorosaur, a baby-food company from Hyderabad that decided the mother deserved a foundation of her own. We work in Telugu, Hindi and English.
How
Mental and emotional support before and after birth: training for hospital teams, sessions for mothers in the antenatal clinic, and scheduled phone check-ins in the first weeks at home.
Lactation support that bridges the gap between the ward and the home: online workshops, online one-to-one consults, and a clear path back to the hospital's professionals when she needs more than we can give.
Clean, private feeding rooms in public places, starting in Hyderabad, so that feeding a baby outside the home is never a reason to stay in.
We bring the trainers, the counsellors and the materials. You bring the mothers. Every programme is measured and reported back to you. From a yes to the first session: two to three months.
Learn
If you are a new mother and the days feel heavier than they should, that is common, it is not your fault, and it passes faster with help. Tell someone. Your doctor, a nurse, or us.
If you are close to a new mother, ask her how she is. Not the baby. Her. Then stay for the answer.
Donate or volunteer
We are new, and we are starting carefully. Until our giving process is in place, the way to help is a message. We reply to every one.
Say yes to the three things above. We agree a start date together.
Fund a training batch, a counsellor's year, a workshop series, or a feeding room. We report on every rupee.
Counsellors, lactation consultants, translators, and anyone who can give a few hours a month.