Supporting Women through Crisis Pregnancy

As we begin the new year and look forward to a year of serving women and girls in crisis pregnancy, we would like to thank you, our donors, supporters, and friends. The past 12 months were challenging but your support helped us make our way towards recovery.

After the Board approved the organisational restructing in the first quarter of 2022, we are now operating with a small but compact program and operations team. The Program Manager in our Battambang Program Office was promoted to be the Executive Director. Under his leadership, we were able to re-strategise and restructure to increase efficiency and ensure that costs are aligned with our funding reality so that Mother's Heart will be able to continue providing key essential services to pregnant women and their babies. For other services, we referred beneficiaries to trusted partners and maximised the positive impact of our shared expertise.

At the end of 2022, we supported a total of 76 women and girls and 69 babies/children and their families in our Crisis Pregnancy Support Program in our Phnom Penh and Battambang program offices. Forty-three (43) cases were closed in the middle of 2022 because the beneficiaries have began taking steps towards independence and no longer need the full assistance of Mother's Heart. Twenty-eight (28) healthy babies were born in 2022, including a set of twin boys. We were also able to distribute 34 baby baskets to pregnant mothers. Records show (on the yellow health monitoring cards) that no child up to 24 months old who are in our program is underweight or malnourished, and no mother nor baby had any major health issues in the past twelve months. Our team in Battambang province was one of the organisations actively involved in the provincial network against human trafficking. In the last quarter of 2022, Mother's Heart supported two mothers and their children who were recently intercepted from traffickers in Battambang province by providing food, maternal and child health service, among others. The mothers and their children are now in the care of the provincial social affairs department. Mother's Heart and other partners in the community are working towards empowering the mothers and reuniting them to their families.

Mother's Heart maintains good working relationship with the commune committeesfor women and children and local authorities to keep track of mothers and children's health, safety, and security in line with the health ministry's campaign on maternal and child health and development and protection. In Phnom Penh, 17 children benefitted from the safe and nurturing environment of the day care while their mothers are working or are attending classes or skills training. There, the children spent time with children their ages and not on the streets where they face many risks.

All of these would have not been possible without your generosity. Thank you for partnering with us, for your financial support and unceasing prayers, and for sharing our passion and mission to empower women and girls in crisis pregnancy. Onward and upward! We wish you all the best in 2023, and hope that it is filled with good health, hope, happiness and love.

Sincerely,

Team Mother's Heart 

Links:

• Infant Mental Health: An Interview with Mother's Heart