Stories of Impact
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This December…. – 10 babies were enrolled in our program, including three orphaned newborns, one set of triplets, one baby with multiple congenital anomalies, one baby who was abandoned in a public space, one baby’s whose mother was not producing breast milk, and one baby whose mother was on chemotherapy. – 7 women were enrolled […]
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In the month of November… – 9 babies were admitted, including one set of triplets, 4 newborns with critically ill mothers in the ICU, 1 premature baby with a sick mom, and 1 baby whose mother’s milk had dried up completely – 7 women were admitted, 3 with a recent history of ruptured uterus and […]
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This is Enes and her baby Vincent. In October 2018 Enes started laboring for the fifth time. She already had five little ones at home (including a set of twins) and all her previous pregnancies and deliveries had gone well, but her labor with Vincent was different. With four previous births, Vincent’s birth should have […]
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Tiyamike is 15months old. She was born prematurely on October 19th 2017 weighing just over 4lbs. Her 22 year old mother hemorrhaged after her delivery and died the same day. As her mother’s body was loaded into a vehicle to transport her back to her village, her grandmother was handed a couple tins of formula […]
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Takindwa’s mom started her labor at the District Hospital in Malawi. She had had a previous cesarean section so it was important that she labor at a hospital with an operating room. Many women in Malawi labor in rural area which are far from any health facility. And even when there is a clinic nearby, […]
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Niya is only 16 years old, but several weeks after the birth of her first baby she had surgery for a total hysterectomy. Niya took care of herself during her pregnancy and grew a 8lb 9oz baby. Unfortunately her baby was too big for her to birth naturally and she ended up with a C-section. […]
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In September… 9 babies were enrolled. 6 orphans (including a set of triplets), and 3 whose mothers were not producing any breast milk. Nurses visited 139 babies in their homes. Joyful Motherhood is currently following 249 babies 4 women were enrolled, 2 with severe infections, and 2 whose uteruses ruptured and required hysterectomies Nurses visited […]
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Faith was born January 28, 2018. Her birth was uneventful and the next day her 23-year-old mother, Salimba, took her home to meet the rest of the family. On February 14th Salimba became ill. Her family says her face and feet were swollen and she started vomiting. On February 18th they took her to the […]
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In the face of this beautiful woman you can see lines of grief, determination, and quiet joy. She is holding her grandson Precious who was born on the day her daughter died. Her daughter delivered Precious and then as she lay back to embrace her new son she began to bleed. The bleeding continued despite […]
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Nineteen year-old Juliet was nearing the end of her pregnancy. She had gone for her prenatal visits at the Mitudu health center, she had taken the antimalarial medications as instructed by the midwife, had the necessary blood work, and regular blood pressure checks. Everything seemed to be going well until the day she collapsed and […]
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In the month of August, 10 infants and 4 women were enrolled in our programs. Of the 10 babies, 5 were orphans, the mother of 1 was critically ill in the ICU, the mother of another prematurely stopped producing breast milk, and the remaining 3 were underweight. Nurses visited 144 babies this month and are […]
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Triplets Stella, Eunice and Joseph each weighed about 2lbs at birth. Their parents were already struggling at the edge of survival and now suddenly there were three additional children to feed. It was not uncommon that an entire day would pass with no food. Life -which involved fetching water, washing clothes by hand, and farming […]
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Six month old twins Nkanzo and Pemphero are healthy beneficiaries of Joyful Motherhood. Years before their birth, their Malawian parents moved across the border to Mozambique in search of a better life. They settled there and had five children together. These twins were their sixth and seventh children. Their land provided what they need to […]
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When her daughter married and moved to a village some distance from her own, Ana Andrew’s grandmother said goodbye with a mixture of joy and sorrow. Neither owned a phone and so time passed without any communication. After almost a year someone from her son-in-law’s family came to tell Ana’s grandmother that her daughter had […]
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Brightwell was born just across the border in Mozambique. His mother died silently at home moments after his birth. Understanding the fragility of the life in their hands, her relatives brought Brightwell to the closest hospital that very day. The hospital happened to be a small community hospital in Malawi, where on admission he weighed […]